'We will play a key role in football's future' - football oversight chief the new chairman
The team's current difficulties are seen as a "significant problem" and the independent regulator is seeking powers to investigate clubs in comparable cases, the newly appointed chairman the regulator has stated.
In a wide-ranging interview, the chairman, who was appointed on Monday, voiced concern towards the club's followers.
The chairman convened with four supporter groups associated with the South Yorkshire club recently.
The Championship side have been struggling on and off the field in 2025, with the club failing to pay players on time on multiple instances, including in September.
"Clearly Sheffield Wednesday has been a significant problem for EFL and a substantial concern for English football," the chairman stated.
"The club represents one of the great brands for the English game and in recent days we have met supporters' organizations.
"We're now looking to get powers... which will allow us to have Sheffield Wednesday - and other clubs brought to our attention if they warrant scrutiny and dealt with."
Monetary Issues and Ownership Situation
Wednesday's embattled owner the current owner suggested earlier this year he would be open to selling the club at Hillsborough, but he has been unable to finalize an agreement with prospective buyers.
Failure to pay player wages on time in March and May caused limitations by the English Football League (EFL) in summer, blocking the team from conducting any recruitment activities for the following recruitment periods, although the ban was rescinded in August.
Authority's Position
The regulator explained: "Our role exists to serve the Owls followers, teams facing challenges where people are committed to a local institution that has existed throughout their lifetimes in multiple situations.
"I fully appreciate the team's plight, as I do for each organization that in modern times have encountered failure, or approached financial ruin, for factors unrelated to the supporters."
Questioned about whether the regulator could force 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 collect the information and understand the situation, we will."
But Kogan stressed that forcing owners to sell clubs would be treated as a "last resort" and the authority would rather to cooperate with proprietors.
"The last thing what we want to do is start getting involved with an individual club, an individual owner, without being able to work with that chairman to fix the challenges confronting the team and the chairman's encountering," the chairman stated.
"But the truth is, when you review the record of the sport, over the recent generations there have been particular chairmen, a small minority, but some who have been irresponsible in the approach they have taken toward their clubs and ultimately refuse to accept accountability for the long-term prospects."
Wednesday followers have been protesting against the current proprietor in recent months
'Mistakes could erase significant advances'
Kogan met with officials from numerous teams to explain the responsibilities of the oversight body this week and insisted it was a "progressive gathering" with a "high level of engagement" from the National League to the Premier League.
"The role holds considerable importance, because if errors are made, if the sport makes errors, the extraordinary progress that's been made necessary will vanish incredibly quickly," Kogan said.
"This represents everyone's worst fear in the context of the English game is a substantial accomplishment - we've got to keep it going.
"Considerable investment entering the sport and has been channeled for the past two decades, because there's no guarantee it will continue to come into football, which is part of the rationale behind I think we have to maintain a focused outlook on risk and of course, of the immediate future."
Premier League Concerns
The Premier League opposed the creation of a regulator because of apprehensions regarding adverse consequences on the Premier League's sporting equality, but Kogan said: "I completely endorse the prosperity and expansion as an commercial operation of the top division.
"As someone who appreciates the apprehension regarding damaging the top flight as an elite competition of this country. But simultaneously, if you engage with division representatives after today's meeting, they would have had a high level of reassurance -and, in fact, they have been advising us privately they have a high level of reassurance."
Ideological Links
Kogan is still facing a "thorough examination" by the Commissioner for Public Appointments after he revealed he contributed money to the opposition group in the past.
The 68-year-old provided financial support for Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport the politician's campaign, along with that of the current Prime Minister.
"I have fully disclosed my former ideological connection [with Labour], and that ideological connection terminated the day the official body endorsed my nomination," the chairman stated.
"I currently have no participation in any type of partisan engagement."
