'Our role is integral to football's future' - independent football regulator the regulator's chair
The Championship club's ongoing struggles are seen as a "serious issue" and the independent regulator is aiming to acquire authority to look into club affairs in comparable cases, the recently named head the regulator has announced.
In a wide-ranging interview, Kogan, who was recently selected, expressed "sympathy" towards supporters of the Owls.
Kogan met with four supporters' associations connected to the South Yorkshire club this week.
The team have been facing challenges both on and off the pitch in 2025, with the club delaying salary disbursements on multiple instances, including in the autumn.
"Obviously the club has become a significant problem for EFL and a substantial concern for English football," the chairman stated.
"The club represents one of the iconic names for English football and recently we have met Sheffield Wednesday supporters' groups.
"We are seeking authority... which will allow us to have Sheffield Wednesday - and other clubs referred to us if they require examination and dealt with."
Economic Challenges and Leadership Concerns
The club's controversial proprietor the Thai businessman indicated in the summer he would be prepared to relinquish control at Hillsborough, but he has not been able to secure a deal with prospective buyers.
Missed wage deadlines on time in earlier this year led to sanctions by the football authorities in mid-year, stopping Wednesday from completing any player acquisitions for the next three transfer windows, although those limitations were removed in August.
Official's Viewpoint
The chairman stated: "Our role exists to serve the Owls followers, Bury or any football club where fans are dedicated to a regional establishment that has represented their community in numerous instances.
"I have absolute sympathy for the team's plight, as I do for all the clubs that in modern times have encountered failure, or approached financial ruin, for factors unrelated to the fans themselves."
When asked if the oversight body could require an owner to sell a club if they are deemed unsuitable, the regulator answered: "When asking whether 'would we intervene in the final instance?', the reply is once we assemble the facts and comprehend the circumstances, we will."
But the chairman emphasized that forcing owners to sell clubs would be viewed as the ultimate measure and the authority would rather to work with them.
"Our least desirable course of action is start getting involved with an specific team, an particular chairman, without being in a position to cooperate with that proprietor to address the issues that the club's facing and the proprietor's dealing with," the chairman stated.
"However, realistically, when you review the record of football, over the recent generations there have been some owners, few in number, but certain individuals who have acted carelessly in the manner they have operated their teams and eventually decline to assume obligation for the coming years."
Owls fans have been demonstrating against the team's chairman in recent months
'If we get it wrong, extraordinary progress vanishes'
The regulator engaged representatives from 110 clubs to lay out the remit of the regulator on Wednesday and stated it constituted a "progressive gathering" with a "significant participation" from the grassroots to elite level.
"It's a job that's actually really important, because if we get it wrong, if the football community fails, the significant advances achieved could disappear incredibly quickly," the regulator warned.
"And that's what nobody wants in the terms of English football is a major achievement - we've got to keep it going.
"Considerable investment entering the sport and has come into football for the past two decades, because certainty is lacking it will continue to come into football, which is among the factors explaining I think we have to maintain a focused outlook on risk and of course, of the immediate future."
Top Flight Apprehensions
The Premier League opposed the formation of an authority because of concerns about detrimental effects on the top-flight's competitiveness, but the chairman responded: "I'm absolutely committed to the success and growth as an economic entity of the top division.
"As someone who appreciates the concern of undermining the Premier League as a premium product of this country. But at the same time, if you engage with division representatives after the recent gathering, 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 acknowledged providing funds to the political party in 2020.
The 68-year-old provided financial support for Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 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 party membership ceased the day the official body endorsed my nomination," the regulator explained.
"I am presently disconnected from any form of political activity."
