'We will play a key role in football's future' - independent football regulator David Kogan
The Championship club's persistent issues constitute a "major concern" and the new football authority is aiming to acquire authority to investigate clubs in comparable cases, the newly appointed chairman the regulator has announced.
During an extensive discussion, Kogan, who was named to the position this week, voiced concern towards the club's followers.
The chairman convened with four supporters' associations connected to the South Yorkshire club in recent days.
The football club have been struggling on and off the field in the current year, with the club delaying salary disbursements on several different times, including in the autumn.
"Evidently Wednesday represents a serious issue for football authorities and a major challenge for the sport," the chairman stated.
"Sheffield Wednesday is one of the iconic names for English football and this week we have met fan representatives.
"We're now looking to get powers... which will permit us to bring Wednesday and comparable cases brought to our attention if they warrant scrutiny and addressed."
Monetary Issues and Leadership Concerns
The club's controversial proprietor Dejphon Chansiri suggested earlier this year he would be prepared to relinquish control at their home ground, but he has not been able to secure a deal with interested parties.
Delayed salary payments on time in March and May led to sanctions by the football authorities in summer, preventing the club from carrying out any player acquisitions for the following recruitment periods, although that restriction was lifted in late summer.
Authority's Position
Kogan said: "The job [of the regulator] is there for the supporters of Wednesday, teams facing challenges where people are committed to a community organization that has existed throughout their lifetimes in numerous instances.
"I have absolute sympathy for Sheffield Wednesday, as I do for every team that since 1992 have gone to the wall, or approached financial ruin, for causes separate from the fans themselves."
Questioned about whether the oversight body could require an owner to sell a club if they are deemed unsuitable, the regulator answered: "If your question is 'would we intervene in the final instance?', the answer is once we collect the information and understand the situation, we will."
But the regulator clarified that requiring chairmen to relinquish clubs would be considered the final option and the regulator would prefer to work with them.
"The last thing what we want to do is start getting involved with an particular organization, an individual owner, without having the opportunity to collaborate with that chairman to fix the issues that the club's facing and the proprietor's dealing with," Kogan said.
"However, realistically, when you review the record of the game, over the past few decades there have been particular chairmen, few in number, but some who have been irresponsible in the approach they have taken toward their clubs and ultimately decline to assume obligation for the future."
Wednesday followers have been protesting against owner Dejphon Chansiri this season
'Errors may undo substantial development'
The regulator engaged representatives from 110 clubs to lay out the remit of the authority recently and insisted it was a "forward-thinking discussion" with a "substantial involvement" from the National League to the Premier League.
"It's a job that's actually really important, because should mistakes occur, if the football community fails, the extraordinary progress that's been made necessary will vanish incredibly quickly," the regulator warned.
"Such an outcome is universally undesirable in the realm of domestic football is a substantial accomplishment - we've got to keep it going.
"Considerable investment flowing into the game and has been invested for the last 20 or 25 years, because there's no guarantee it will keep flowing into the sport, which is among the factors explaining I think we have to adopt a precise perspective on risk and of course, of the immediate future."
Elite Division Worries
The Premier League opposed the establishment of an oversight body because of fears of a negative impact on the Premier League's sporting equality, but Kogan said: "I'm absolutely committed to the success and growth as an economic entity of the elite league.
"Being fully aware of the worry about compromising the Premier League as a premium product of the nation. But at the same time, if you consult with top flight officials after this week's discussion, they would have had a significant degree of comfort -and, indeed, they have been advising us privately they have a significant confidence."
Ideological Links
The regulator remains subject to a "thorough examination" by the public appointments commissioner after he revealed he contributed money to the political party in recent years.
The 68-year-old donated money to government minister the minister's leadership bid, along with that of the now Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.
"I have been entirely transparent regarding my former ideological connection [with Labour], and that political affiliation came to an end the day the official body endorsed my nomination," Kogan said.
"I currently have no participation in any sort of politics."
