'Our role is integral to football's future' - football oversight chief the new chairman
The team's current difficulties are seen as a "major concern" and the independent regulator is looking to gain the ability to look into club affairs in such situations, its new chair the regulator has declared.
In a wide-ranging interview, the regulator, who was named to the position this week, voiced concern towards Wednesday's fanbase.
The regulator engaged with four fan organizations representing the football team in recent days.
The team have been struggling on and off the field in 2025, with the club failing to pay players on time on multiple instances, including in last month.
"Evidently Wednesday represents a serious issue for football authorities and a major challenge for the sport," the regulator explained.
"Sheffield Wednesday is one of the iconic names for football in England and in recent days we have met supporters' organizations.
"We are seeking authority... which will permit us to bring the club and similar situations referred to us if they require examination and addressed."
Financial Struggles and Leadership Concerns
The team's struggling chairman the Thai businessman stated during the off-season he would be open to selling the club at the stadium, but he has failed to complete a sale with potential new owners.
Delayed salary payments on time in spring months led to sanctions by the English Football League (EFL) in June, blocking the team from conducting any player acquisitions for the next three transfer windows, although the ban was rescinded in the end of the transfer window.
Official's Viewpoint
The chairman stated: "Our role exists to serve the fans of Sheffield Wednesday, teams facing challenges where people are committed to a regional establishment that has been part of their lives in many cases.
"I fully appreciate Sheffield Wednesday, as I do for every team that since 1992 have gone to the wall, or approached financial ruin, for factors unrelated to the supporters."
Questioned about whether the oversight body could require an chairman to relinquish a club if they are considered unfit, Kogan said: "If your question is 'would we intervene in the final instance?', the response would be once we gather the evidence and know what's going on, we will."
But the chairman emphasized that compelling proprietors to divest clubs would be considered the final option and the regulator would prefer to collaborate with owners.
"The last thing what we want to do is commence engagement with an individual club, an specific proprietor, without being in a position to cooperate with that owner to try and resolve the issues that the club's facing and the chairman's encountering," Kogan said.
"But the truth is, when you look back over the history of football, over the last 20 or 30 years there have been particular chairmen, few in number, but certain individuals who have acted carelessly in the way which they've been managing their teams and eventually refuse to accept accountability for the coming years."
Wednesday followers have been voicing opposition to the team's chairman this season
'If we get it wrong, extraordinary progress vanishes'
Kogan met with representatives from 110 clubs to detail the scope of the oversight body this week and stated it constituted a "proactive meeting" with a "substantial involvement" from the grassroots to elite level.
"The role holds considerable importance, because if errors are made, if the football community fails, the extraordinary progress that's been made might evaporate rapidly," Kogan said.
"Such an outcome is universally undesirable in the terms of English football is a huge success story - we need to continue the progress.
"There's an enormous amount of money coming into football and has been invested for the recent generations, because there are no assurances it will persist in entering the game, which is among the factors explaining I think we have to adopt a precise perspective on risk and of course, of the next two or three years."
Premier League Concerns
The Premier League opposed the establishment of an oversight body because of concerns about detrimental effects on the elite division's competitive balance, but the chairman responded: "I completely endorse the success and growth as an commercial operation of the Premier League.
"As someone who appreciates the concern of undermining the division as a high-quality offering of England. But concurrently, if you consult with top flight officials after this week's discussion, they would have had a significant degree of comfort -and, actually, they have been informing us confidentially they have a considerable comfort."
Ideological Links
Kogan is still facing a "thorough examination" by the official appointments authority after he disclosed making donations to the Labour Party in the past.
The 68-year-old provided financial support for Culture Secretary the politician's campaign, along with that of the now Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.
"I've been completely open about my past party membership [with Labour], and that party membership ceased the day the parliamentary committee confirmed my selection," the regulator explained.
"I am presently disconnected from any type of partisan engagement."
