'Our role is integral to football's future' - independent football regulator the new chairman
The Championship club's ongoing struggles are seen as a "serious issue" and the independent regulator is aiming to acquire authority to examine team situations in such situations, its new chair David Kogan has announced.
Through a comprehensive talk, the chairman, who was named to the position this week, showed understanding towards Wednesday's fanbase.
The chairman convened with four fan organizations associated with the football team in recent days.
The team have been struggling on and off the field in 2025, with the club missing wage payments on several different times, including in September.
"Obviously the club has become a serious issue for football authorities and a substantial concern for English football," the regulator explained.
"Wednesday stands as one of the iconic names for football in England and in recent days we have met supporters' organizations.
"Our aim is to acquire the ability... which will permit us to bring Wednesday and comparable cases brought to our attention if they need to be investigated and addressed."
Monetary Issues and Proprietorship Status
Wednesday's embattled owner the Thai businessman indicated in the summer he would be open to selling the club at the stadium, but he has been unable to finalize an agreement with prospective buyers.
Failure to pay player wages on time in spring months led to sanctions by the English Football League (EFL) in June, blocking the team from conducting any transfers or loans for the subsequent signing windows, although the ban was rescinded in late summer.
Regulator's Perspective
Kogan said: "Our role exists to serve the Owls followers, Bury or any football club where fans are dedicated to a local institution that has represented their community in many cases.
"I completely understand Sheffield Wednesday, as I do for every team that in modern times have encountered failure, or been close to going to the wall, for reasons that have nothing to do with the fans themselves."
Inquired if the authority might compel an chairman to relinquish a club if they are deemed unsuitable, the regulator answered: "If your question is 'would we intervene in the final instance?', the reply is once we collect the information and understand the situation, we will."
But the regulator clarified that compelling proprietors to divest clubs would be considered the final option and the regulator would prefer to collaborate with owners.
"The final option we would consider is commence engagement with an individual club, an particular chairman, without being able to work with that owner to try and resolve the challenges confronting the team and the owner's facing," the regulator explained.
"However, realistically, when you examine the past of football, over the past few decades there have been some owners, few in number, but particular people who have shown negligence in the way which they've been managing their teams and eventually refuse to accept accountability for the coming years."
Owls fans have been demonstrating against owner Dejphon Chansiri during the current campaign
'Errors may undo substantial development'
Kogan met with delegates from multiple organizations to detail the scope of the authority recently and insisted it was a "progressive gathering" with a "high level of engagement" from the National League to the Premier League.
"This position carries substantial significance, because should mistakes occur, if the football community fails, the extraordinary progress that's been made could disappear rapidly," Kogan said.
"And that's what nobody wants in the context of the English game is a huge success story - we must maintain momentum.
"There's an enormous amount of money flowing into the game and has come into football for the past two decades, because there are no assurances it will keep flowing into the sport, which is among the factors explaining I think we have to take a really clear view on risk and of course, of the next two or three years."
Premier League Concerns
Top flight officials resisted the establishment of an oversight body because of concerns about detrimental effects on the top-flight's competitiveness, but Kogan said: "I completely endorse the prosperity and expansion as an financial organization of the Premier League.
"Being fully aware of the apprehension regarding damaging the Premier League as a premium product of England. But at the same time, if you talk to the Premier League after this week's discussion, they would have had a high level of reassurance -and, in fact, they have been informing us confidentially they have a high level of reassurance."
Ideological Links
The regulator remains subject to a "comprehensive investigation" by the Commissioner for Public Appointments after he revealed he contributed money to the opposition group in recent years.
The 68-year-old donated money to Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Lisa Nandy's leadership campaign, along with that of the current Prime Minister.
"I have fully disclosed my previous political affiliation [with Labour], and that ideological connection terminated the day the select committee approved my appointment," the regulator explained.
"I am no longer involved in any type of partisan engagement."
