'Our role is integral to football's future' - independent football regulator the new chairman
The team's ongoing struggles constitute a "significant problem" and the football regulator is aiming to acquire authority to investigate clubs in comparable cases, the recently named head the regulator has announced.
During an extensive discussion, Kogan, who was appointed on Monday, showed understanding towards the club's followers.
Kogan met with four fan organizations representing the Championship side recently.
The team have been experiencing difficulties in multiple areas in 2025, with the club missing wage payments on multiple instances, including in last month.
"Clearly Sheffield Wednesday has been a significant problem for EFL and a significant problem for football," the chairman stated.
"The club represents one of the historic institutions for the English game and recently we have met Sheffield Wednesday supporters' groups.
"We're now looking to get powers... which will enable us to take the club and similar situations submitted for our review if they require examination and acted upon."
Financial Struggles and Leadership Concerns
The team's struggling chairman the Thai businessman indicated in the summer he would be open to selling the club at Hillsborough, but he has been unable to finalize an agreement with potential new owners.
Failure to pay player wages on time in March and May caused limitations by the league officials in summer, stopping Wednesday from completing any player acquisitions for the subsequent signing windows, although the ban was rescinded in the end of the transfer window.
Authority's Position
The regulator explained: "The job [of the regulator] is there for the fans of Sheffield Wednesday, teams facing challenges where supporters are loyal to a local institution that has been part of their lives in numerous instances.
"I fully appreciate 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 fans themselves."
Inquired if the authority might compel an proprietor to divest a club if they are judged inappropriate, the regulator answered: "If your question is 'would we intervene in the final instance?', the answer is once we gather the evidence and comprehend the circumstances, we will."
But Kogan stressed that compelling proprietors to divest clubs would be viewed as the ultimate measure and the oversight body would choose to cooperate with proprietors.
"Our least desirable course of action is begin intervening in an individual club, an specific proprietor, without being in a position to cooperate with that owner to try and resolve the problems affecting the organization and the proprietor's dealing with," Kogan said.
"In actuality, when you look back over the history of the sport, over the recent generations there have been some owners, not many, but particular people who have shown negligence in the way which they've been managing their organizations and finally decline to assume obligation for the future."
Wednesday followers have been protesting against owner Dejphon Chansiri this season
'Mistakes could erase significant advances'
The chairman convened with officials from numerous teams to detail the scope of the oversight body this week and insisted it was a "forward-thinking discussion" with a "substantial involvement" from the lower divisions to the top flight.
"This position carries substantial significance, because should mistakes occur, if the sport makes errors, the significant advances achieved necessary will vanish swiftly," Kogan said.
"This represents everyone's worst fear in the realm of domestic football is a major achievement - we've got to keep it going.
"Considerable investment coming into football and has been invested for the past two decades, because there are no assurances it will keep flowing into the sport, which is part of the rationale behind I think we have to take a really clear view on potential dangers and naturally, of the coming seasons."
Elite Division Worries
The Premier League opposed the formation of an authority because of apprehensions regarding adverse consequences on the elite division's competitive balance, but Kogan said: "I fully support the success and growth as an commercial operation of the Premier League.
"As someone who appreciates the apprehension regarding damaging the division as a high-quality offering of this country. But concurrently, if you engage with division representatives after today's meeting, they would have had a high level of reassurance -and, indeed, they have been telling us in private they have a significant confidence."
Partisan Associations
Kogan is still facing a "full inquiry" by the Commissioner for Public Appointments after he disclosed making donations to the political party in recent years.
The chairman contributed funds to government minister Lisa Nandy's leadership campaign, along with that of the current Prime Minister.
"I have been entirely transparent regarding my previous political affiliation [with Labour], and that ideological connection terminated the day the official body endorsed my nomination," the chairman stated.
"I am no longer involved in any sort of politics."
