'Our role is integral to football's future' - football oversight chief David Kogan
The Championship club's ongoing struggles constitute a "significant problem" and the football regulator 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 recently selected, expressed "sympathy" towards the club's followers.
The regulator engaged with four fan organizations associated with the Championship side this week.
The team have been struggling on and off the field in the current year, with the club failing to pay players on time on five separate occasions, including in the autumn.
"Evidently Wednesday represents a significant problem for EFL and a major challenge for the sport," the regulator explained.
"Sheffield Wednesday is one of the great brands for football in England and this week we have met supporters' organizations.
"We are seeking authority... which will enable us to take the club and similar situations referred to us if they need to be investigated and acted upon."
Financial Struggles 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 failed to complete a sale with interested parties.
Failure to pay player wages on time in March and May caused limitations by the football authorities in summer, stopping Wednesday from completing any recruitment activities for the next three transfer windows, although the ban was rescinded in the end of the transfer window.
Official's Viewpoint
The regulator explained: "The job [of the regulator] is there for the supporters of Wednesday, teams facing challenges where people are committed to a regional establishment that has existed throughout their lifetimes in multiple situations.
"I have absolute sympathy for the team's plight, as I do for all the clubs that over recent decades have faced collapse, or nearly ceased operations, for factors unrelated to the fans themselves."
Inquired if the regulator could force an chairman to relinquish a club if they are considered unfit, Kogan said: "Should the inquiry concern 'would we intervene in the final instance?', the response would be once we assemble the facts and comprehend the circumstances, we will."
But the chairman emphasized that forcing owners to sell clubs would be treated as a "last resort" and the authority would rather to collaborate with owners.
"Our least desirable course of action is commence engagement with an particular organization, an specific proprietor, without having the opportunity to collaborate with that chairman to fix the issues that the club's facing and the owner's facing," the regulator explained.
"But the truth is, when you examine the past of the sport, over the last 20 or 30 years there have been particular chairmen, a small minority, but particular people who have shown negligence in the way which they've been managing their teams and eventually decline to assume obligation for the coming years."
Owls fans have been demonstrating against owner Dejphon Chansiri this season
'Mistakes could erase significant advances'
The regulator engaged delegates from multiple organizations to lay out the remit of the regulator on Wednesday and stated it constituted a "forward-thinking discussion" with a "high level of engagement" from the National League to the Premier League.
"The role holds considerable importance, because if we get it wrong, if the world of football gets it wrong, the significant advances achieved could disappear rapidly," the regulator warned.
"And that's what nobody wants in the context of the English game is a substantial accomplishment - we must maintain momentum.
"There's an enormous amount of money flowing into the game and has been channeled for the last 20 or 25 years, because there's no guarantee it will persist in entering the game, which is part of the rationale behind I think we have to adopt a precise perspective on potential dangers and naturally, of the immediate future."
Premier League Concerns
The Premier League opposed the creation of a regulator because of fears of a negative impact on the Premier League's sporting equality, but the chairman responded: "I'm absolutely committed to the prosperity and expansion as an financial organization of the top division.
"Being fully aware of the worry about compromising the Premier League as a premium product of England. But at the same time, if you talk to the Premier League after the recent gathering, they would have had a high level of reassurance -and, in fact, they have been telling us in private they have a high level of reassurance."
Political Connections
Kogan is still facing a "thorough examination" by the public appointments commissioner after he revealed he contributed money to the Labour Party in recent years.
The official provided financial support for Culture Secretary the politician's campaign, along with that of the government leader.
"I've been completely open about my former ideological connection [with Labour], and that political affiliation came to an end the day the select committee approved my appointment," Kogan said.
"I am presently disconnected from any type of partisan engagement."
