'Our role is integral to football's future' - newly appointed regulator the regulator's chair
The Championship club's persistent issues are seen as a "significant problem" and the football regulator is looking to gain the ability to investigate clubs in comparable cases, the newly appointed chairman David Kogan has declared.
In a wide-ranging interview, the chairman, who was named to the position this week, expressed "sympathy" towards Wednesday's fanbase.
The regulator engaged with four fan organizations associated with the Championship side in recent days.
The football club have been facing challenges both on and off the pitch in the current year, with the club missing wage payments on five separate occasions, including in September.
"Obviously the club has become a serious issue for football authorities and a major challenge for the sport," Kogan told.
"Wednesday stands as one of the iconic names for the English game and recently we have met Sheffield Wednesday supporters' groups.
"We're now looking to get powers... which will permit us to bring the club and similar situations referred to us if they warrant scrutiny and addressed."
Financial Struggles and Proprietorship Status
The team's struggling chairman Dejphon Chansiri stated during the off-season he would be open to selling the club at their home ground, but he has not been able to secure a deal with prospective buyers.
Failure to pay player wages on time in earlier this year caused limitations by the league officials in mid-year, blocking the team from conducting any player acquisitions for the next three transfer windows, although the ban was rescinded in the end of the transfer window.
Authority's Position
The chairman stated: "Our role exists to serve the Owls followers, other clubs in similar situations where supporters are loyal to a local institution that has been part of their lives in multiple situations.
"I completely understand the club's situation, as I do for each organization that over recent decades have faced collapse, or been close to going to the wall, for reasons that have nothing to do with the fans themselves."
When asked if the regulator could force an owner to sell a club if they are deemed unsuitable, Kogan said: "Should the inquiry concern 'would we intervene in the final instance?', the response would be once we assemble the facts and understand the situation, we will."
But the chairman emphasized that compelling proprietors to divest clubs would be considered the final option and the regulator would prefer to work with them.
"Our least desirable course of action is begin intervening in an specific team, an individual owner, 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.
"However, realistically, when you examine the past of football, over the past few decades there have been certain proprietors, few in number, but particular people who have shown negligence in the approach they have taken toward their clubs and ultimately decline to assume obligation for the coming years."
Wednesday followers have been voicing opposition to owner Dejphon Chansiri this season
'If we get it wrong, extraordinary progress vanishes'
The chairman convened with officials from numerous teams to explain the responsibilities of the authority recently and insisted it was a "progressive gathering" with a "high level of engagement" from the lower divisions to the top flight.
"The role holds considerable importance, because if we get it wrong, if the world of football gets it wrong, the extraordinary progress that's been made could disappear incredibly quickly," the regulator warned.
"Such an outcome is universally undesirable in the terms of English football is a huge success story - we've got to keep it going.
"Substantial financial resources coming into football and has come into football for the past two decades, because there's no guarantee it will persist in entering the game, which is among the factors explaining I think we have to take a really clear view on risk and of course, of the immediate future."
Top Flight Apprehensions
The Premier League opposed the establishment of an oversight body because of fears of a negative impact on the top-flight's competitiveness, but Kogan said: "I completely endorse the prosperity and expansion as an economic entity 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, in fact, they have been telling us in private they have a significant confidence."
Ideological Links
Kogan is still facing a "comprehensive investigation" by the official appointments authority after he disclosed making donations to the Labour Party in recent years.
The chairman provided financial support for Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy's leadership campaign, along with that of the current Prime Minister.
"I have been entirely transparent regarding my previous political affiliation [with Labour], and that political affiliation came to an end the day the parliamentary committee confirmed my selection," Kogan said.
"I am no longer involved in any form of political activity."
