'We will play a key role in football's future' - football oversight chief the regulator's chair
The Championship club's ongoing struggles are seen as a "serious issue" and the new football authority is looking to gain the ability to investigate clubs in comparable cases, its new chair the official has declared.
During an extensive discussion, the regulator, who was appointed on Monday, voiced concern towards supporters of the Owls.
Kogan met with four fan organizations representing the Championship side in recent days.
The Championship side have been experiencing difficulties in multiple areas in 2025, with the club failing to pay players on time on several different times, including in last month.
"Clearly Sheffield Wednesday has been a serious issue for football authorities and a major challenge for the sport," Kogan told.
"Sheffield Wednesday is one of the great brands for the English game and recently we have met supporters' organizations.
"We're now looking to get powers... which will permit us to bring Sheffield Wednesday - and other clubs referred to us if they need to be investigated and acted upon."
Financial Struggles and Proprietorship Status
Wednesday's embattled owner Dejphon Chansiri indicated in the summer he would be prepared to relinquish control at Hillsborough, but he has not been able to secure a deal with prospective buyers.
Delayed salary payments on time in spring months caused limitations by the football authorities in June, blocking the team from conducting any transfers or loans for the subsequent signing windows, although those limitations were removed in the end of the transfer window.
Authority's Position
The chairman stated: "Our role exists to serve the fans of Sheffield Wednesday, other clubs in similar situations where people are committed to a regional establishment that has been part of their lives in many cases.
"I completely understand the team's plight, as I do for all the clubs that over recent decades have faced collapse, or approached financial ruin, for reasons that have nothing to do with the followers."
Questioned about whether the authority might compel an proprietor to divest a club if they are judged inappropriate, the regulator answered: "Should the inquiry concern 'would we intervene in the final instance?', the answer is once we gather the evidence and understand the situation, we will."
But the chairman emphasized that compelling proprietors to divest clubs would be viewed as the ultimate measure and the regulator would prefer to cooperate with proprietors.
"The final option we would consider is start getting involved with an particular organization, an specific proprietor, without being in a position to cooperate with that proprietor to address the problems affecting the organization and the chairman's encountering," the regulator explained.
"However, realistically, when you look back over the history of the game, over the past few decades there have been some owners, not many, but some who have been irresponsible in the way which they've been managing their clubs and ultimately decline to assume obligation for the future."
Owls fans have been protesting against owner Dejphon Chansiri during the current campaign
'Mistakes could erase significant advances'
The regulator engaged officials from numerous teams to lay out the remit of the oversight body this week and maintained it represented a "forward-thinking discussion" with a "significant participation" from the grassroots to elite level.
"It's a job that's actually really important, because if errors are made, if the sport makes errors, the extraordinary progress that's been made necessary will vanish incredibly quickly," the chairman stated.
"And that's what nobody wants in the realm of domestic football is a substantial accomplishment - we need to continue the progress.
"Considerable investment entering the sport and has come into football for the last 20 or 25 years, because certainty is lacking it will persist in entering the game, which is part of the rationale behind I think we have to take a really clear view on challenges and obviously, of the next two or three years."
Premier League Concerns
Top flight officials resisted the formation of an authority because of apprehensions regarding adverse consequences on the top-flight's competitiveness, but Kogan said: "I'm absolutely committed to the achievement and development as an economic entity of the Premier League.
"Being fully aware of the worry about compromising the top flight as an elite competition of the nation. But simultaneously, if you consult with top flight officials after today's meeting, they would have had a significant degree of comfort -and, in fact, they have been advising us privately they have a considerable comfort."
Partisan Associations
The chairman continues to confront a "thorough examination" by the Commissioner for Public Appointments after he revealed he contributed money to the political party in 2020.
The 68-year-old donated money to Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy's leadership campaign, along with that of the now Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.
"I have been entirely transparent regarding my past party membership [with Labour], and that ideological connection terminated the day the official body endorsed my nomination," the regulator explained.
"I am no longer involved in any sort of politics."
