'We will play a key role in football's future' - football oversight chief David Kogan
The Championship club's current difficulties represent a a "serious issue" and the new football authority is aiming to acquire authority to investigate clubs in comparable cases, its new chair the official has stated.
In a wide-ranging interview, the regulator, who was recently selected, showed understanding towards Wednesday's fanbase.
Kogan met with four fan organizations connected to the football team this week.
The Championship side have been facing challenges both on and off the pitch in the current year, with the club failing to pay players on time on five separate occasions, including in last month.
"Obviously the club has become a significant problem for EFL and a major challenge for the sport," the chairman stated.
"Sheffield Wednesday is one of the great brands for the English game and this week we have met supporters' organizations.
"We're now looking to get powers... which will enable us to take Wednesday and comparable cases brought to our attention if they need to be investigated and dealt with."
Financial Struggles and Leadership Concerns
Wednesday's embattled owner Dejphon Chansiri stated during the off-season he would be open to selling the club at the stadium, but he has not been able to secure a deal with potential new owners.
Failure to pay player wages on time in earlier this year resulted in restrictions being imposed by the English Football League (EFL) in mid-year, preventing the club from carrying out any recruitment activities for the next three transfer windows, although that restriction was lifted in August.
Regulator's Perspective
The chairman stated: "The position was created for the supporters of Wednesday, Bury or any football club where supporters are loyal to a community organization that has represented their community in numerous instances.
"I completely understand Sheffield Wednesday, as I do for every team that in modern times have encountered failure, or approached financial ruin, for reasons that have nothing to do with the fans themselves."
Questioned about whether the regulator could force an chairman to relinquish a club if they are deemed unsuitable, the chairman responded: "If your question is 'would we intervene in the final instance?', the reply is once we assemble the facts and understand the situation, we will."
But the chairman emphasized that compelling proprietors to divest clubs would be treated as a "last resort" and the authority would rather to work with them.
"The last thing what we want to do is commence engagement with an individual club, an particular chairman, without being able to work with that owner to try and resolve the problems affecting the organization and the proprietor's dealing with," Kogan said.
"In actuality, when you examine the past of the sport, over the last 20 or 30 years there have been particular chairmen, few in number, but some who have been irresponsible in the manner they have operated their clubs and ultimately don't wish to take responsibility for the long-term prospects."
Owls fans have been demonstrating against owner Dejphon Chansiri during the current campaign
'Mistakes could erase significant advances'
Kogan met with delegates from multiple organizations to lay out the remit of the authority recently and stated it constituted a "proactive meeting" with a "high level of engagement" from the lower divisions to the top flight.
"It's a job that's actually really important, because if errors are made, if the football community fails, the remarkable development accomplished could disappear rapidly," the regulator warned.
"And that's what nobody wants in the realm of domestic 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 channeled for the last 20 or 25 years, because there are no assurances it will keep flowing into the sport, which is among the factors explaining I think we have to maintain a focused outlook on risk and of course, of the coming seasons."
Premier League Concerns
The Premier League opposed the creation of a regulator because of fears of a negative impact on the top-flight's competitiveness, but the regulator stated: "I'm absolutely committed to the prosperity and expansion as an commercial operation of the top division.
"Being fully aware of the worry about compromising the Premier League as a premium product of England. But concurrently, if you engage with division representatives after this week's discussion, they would have had a significant degree of comfort -and, actually, they have been advising us privately they have a high level of reassurance."
Political Connections
The chairman continues to confront a "comprehensive investigation" by the official appointments authority after he acknowledged providing funds to the Labour Party in recent years.
The chairman donated money to government minister the minister's leadership bid, along with that of the current Prime Minister.
"I have fully disclosed my past party membership [with Labour], and that political affiliation came to an end the day the select committee approved my appointment," the regulator explained.
"I am no longer involved in any form of political activity."
