'We will play a key role in football's future' - independent football regulator the regulator's chair
The Championship club's current difficulties constitute a "significant problem" and the new football authority is looking to gain the ability to look into club affairs in comparable cases, the newly appointed chairman the regulator has stated.
In a wide-ranging interview, the regulator, who was appointed on Monday, voiced concern towards the club's followers.
Kogan met with four supporters' associations associated with the Championship side in recent days.
The football club have been facing challenges both on and off the pitch in 2025, with the club failing to pay players on time on five separate occasions, including in the autumn.
"Evidently Wednesday represents a serious issue for football authorities and a significant problem for football," the regulator explained.
"Sheffield Wednesday is one of the great brands for English football and recently we have met fan representatives.
"Our aim is to acquire the ability... which will enable us to take Sheffield Wednesday - and other clubs referred to us if they need to be investigated and addressed."
Economic Challenges and Ownership Situation
Wednesday's embattled owner Dejphon Chansiri stated during the off-season he would be willing to sell up at their home ground, but he has been unable to finalize an agreement with prospective buyers.
Missed wage deadlines on time in earlier this year resulted in restrictions being imposed by the football authorities in summer, blocking the team from conducting any recruitment activities for the next three transfer windows, although that restriction was lifted in late summer.
Authority's Position
Kogan said: "The job [of the regulator] is there for the Owls followers, other clubs in similar situations where supporters are loyal to a community organization that has represented their community in numerous instances.
"I completely understand the team's plight, as I do for all the clubs that in modern times have encountered failure, or been close to going to the wall, for causes separate from the fans themselves."
Questioned about whether the authority might compel an proprietor to divest a club if they are considered unfit, Kogan said: "If your question is 'would we intervene in the final instance?', the answer is once we assemble the facts and understand the situation, we will."
But the regulator clarified that requiring chairmen to relinquish clubs would be considered the final option and the authority would rather to work with them.
"Our least desirable course of action is begin intervening in an particular organization, an individual owner, without being able to work with that owner to try and resolve the issues that the club's facing and the proprietor's dealing with," Kogan said.
"In actuality, when you look back over the history of the sport, over the last 20 or 30 years there have been certain proprietors, a small minority, but particular people who have shown negligence in the approach they have taken toward their organizations and finally refuse to accept accountability for the future."
Sheffield Wednesday supporters have been protesting against the current proprietor this season
'Mistakes could erase significant advances'
The chairman convened with officials from numerous teams to explain the responsibilities of the regulator on Wednesday and insisted it was a "forward-thinking discussion" with a "substantial involvement" from the grassroots to elite level.
"This position carries substantial significance, because if we get it wrong, if the sport makes errors, the remarkable development accomplished could disappear incredibly quickly," the regulator warned.
"Such an outcome is universally undesirable in the context of the English game is a huge success story - we need to continue the progress.
"There's an enormous amount of money entering the sport and has been channeled for the recent generations, because there are no assurances it will persist in entering the game, which is among the factors explaining I think we have to take a really clear view on potential dangers and naturally, of the next two or three years."
Top Flight Apprehensions
Top flight officials resisted the creation of a regulator because of fears of a negative impact on the top-flight's competitiveness, but Kogan said: "I completely endorse the prosperity and expansion as an commercial operation of the elite league.
"I of all people understand the worry about compromising the Premier League as a premium product of England. But simultaneously, if you talk to the Premier League after this week's discussion, they would have had a significant degree of comfort -and, indeed, they have been informing us confidentially they have a considerable comfort."
Political Connections
Kogan is still facing a "thorough examination" by the public appointments commissioner after he acknowledged providing funds to the opposition group in 2020.
The official donated money to Culture Secretary the minister's leadership bid, along with that of the government leader.
"I've been completely open about my past party membership [with Labour], and that ideological connection terminated the day the official body endorsed my nomination," Kogan said.
"I am presently disconnected from any sort of politics."
