'We will play a key role in football's future' - football oversight chief David Kogan
The team's current difficulties are seen as a "serious issue" and the new football authority is seeking powers to examine team situations in comparable cases, its new chair David Kogan has declared.
Through a comprehensive talk, the chairman, who was named to the position this week, voiced concern towards the club's followers.
The regulator engaged with four supporters' associations representing the South Yorkshire club recently.
The Championship side have been experiencing difficulties in multiple areas in this season, with the club missing wage payments on five separate occasions, including in September.
"Obviously the club has become a serious issue for football authorities and a major challenge for the sport," the chairman stated.
"The club represents one of the great brands for English football and recently we have met Sheffield Wednesday supporters' groups.
"We're now looking to get powers... which will allow us to have Sheffield Wednesday - and other clubs referred to us if they warrant scrutiny and acted upon."
Financial Struggles and Proprietorship Status
The team's struggling chairman Dejphon Chansiri suggested earlier this year he would be willing to sell up at Hillsborough, but he has failed to complete a sale with prospective buyers.
Delayed salary payments on time in March and May led to sanctions by the league officials in June, preventing the club from carrying out any player acquisitions for the following recruitment periods, although those limitations were removed in the end of the transfer window.
Official's Viewpoint
The chairman stated: "The position was created for the fans of Sheffield Wednesday, teams facing challenges where people are committed to a regional establishment that has been part of their lives in numerous instances.
"I completely understand the club's situation, as I do for all the clubs that over recent decades have faced collapse, or been close to going to the wall, for causes separate from the fans themselves."
Questioned about whether the regulator could force an proprietor to divest a club if they are deemed unsuitable, the regulator answered: "Should the inquiry concern '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 treated as a "last resort" and the regulator would prefer to collaborate with owners.
"The final option we would consider is start getting involved with an specific team, an specific proprietor, without being in a position to cooperate with that owner to try and resolve the challenges confronting the team and the proprietor's dealing with," the chairman stated.
"But the truth is, when you review the record of football, over the past few decades there have been certain proprietors, not many, but particular people who have shown negligence in the manner they have operated their clubs and ultimately decline to assume obligation for the future."
Wednesday followers have been demonstrating against owner Dejphon Chansiri in recent months
'If we get it wrong, extraordinary progress vanishes'
Kogan met with representatives from 110 clubs to detail the scope of the regulator on Wednesday and maintained it represented a "forward-thinking discussion" with a "substantial involvement" 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 extraordinary progress that's been made could disappear incredibly quickly," Kogan said.
"And that's what nobody wants in the context of the English game is a substantial accomplishment - we need to continue the progress.
"Considerable investment entering the sport and has been channeled for the past two decades, because there's no guarantee it will keep flowing into the sport, which is one of the reasons why I think we have to take a really clear view on risk and of course, of the next two or three years."
Elite Division Worries
The Premier League opposed the formation of an authority because of concerns about detrimental effects on the top-flight's competitiveness, but Kogan said: "I'm absolutely committed to the achievement and development as an commercial operation of the top division.
"I of all people understand the concern of undermining the Premier League as a premium product 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, actually, they have been advising us privately they have a significant confidence."
Partisan Associations
Kogan is still facing a "comprehensive investigation" by the Commissioner for Public Appointments after he disclosed making donations to the Labour Party in recent years.
The chairman provided financial support for government minister Lisa Nandy's leadership campaign, along with that of the government leader.
"I have fully disclosed my previous political affiliation [with Labour], and that political affiliation came to an end the day the official body endorsed my nomination," the regulator explained.
"I am no longer involved in any sort of politics."
