'We are going to be a part of football's future' - football oversight chief the new chairman
Sheffield Wednesday's persistent issues constitute a "major concern" and the football regulator is aiming to acquire authority to look into club affairs in similar circumstances, its new chair David Kogan has stated.
In a wide-ranging interview, Kogan, who was recently selected, voiced concern towards the club's followers.
Kogan met with four supporters' associations representing the South Yorkshire club recently.
The Championship side have been experiencing difficulties in multiple areas in 2025, with the club failing to pay players on time on several different times, including in last month.
"Clearly Sheffield Wednesday has been a major concern for the league and a significant problem for football," the chairman stated.
"The club represents one of the iconic names for English football and this week we have met Sheffield Wednesday supporters' groups.
"We are seeking authority... which will enable us to take the club and similar situations referred to us if they warrant scrutiny and dealt with."
Financial Struggles and Ownership Situation
The team's struggling chairman the Thai businessman suggested earlier this year he would be prepared to relinquish control at Hillsborough, but he has failed to complete a sale with interested parties.
Delayed salary payments on time in spring months led to sanctions by the English Football League (EFL) in mid-year, blocking the team from conducting any transfers or loans for the following recruitment periods, although those limitations were removed in late summer.
Authority's Position
The regulator explained: "The position was created for the fans of Sheffield Wednesday, other clubs in similar situations where people are committed to a local institution that has represented their community in multiple situations.
"I completely understand the team's plight, as I do for each organization that over recent decades have faced collapse, or approached financial ruin, for causes separate from the fans themselves."
Questioned about whether the regulator could force an proprietor to divest a club if they are judged inappropriate, the chairman responded: "When asking whether 'would we intervene in the final instance?', the answer is once we collect the information and understand the situation, we will."
But Kogan stressed that requiring chairmen to relinquish clubs would be viewed as the ultimate measure and the regulator would prefer to work with them.
"The last thing what we want to do is commence engagement with an particular organization, an individual owner, without being in a position to cooperate with that chairman to fix the problems affecting the organization and the owner's facing," the regulator explained.
"However, realistically, when you review the record of the sport, over the last 20 or 30 years there have been certain proprietors, a small minority, but certain individuals who have acted carelessly in the manner they have operated their clubs and ultimately don't wish to take responsibility for the coming years."
Sheffield Wednesday supporters have been voicing opposition to the team's chairman this season
'If we get it wrong, extraordinary progress vanishes'
The chairman convened with delegates from multiple organizations to lay out the remit of the oversight body this week and maintained it represented a "forward-thinking discussion" with a "high level of engagement" from the National League to the Premier League.
"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 rapidly," 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 flowing into the game and has been invested for the recent generations, because there's no guarantee it will persist in entering the game, which is one of the reasons why I think we have to maintain a focused outlook on risk and of course, of the coming seasons."
Premier League Concerns
Elite division representatives objected to the formation of an authority because of apprehensions regarding adverse consequences on the top-flight's competitiveness, but Kogan said: "I fully support the achievement and development as an financial organization of the Premier League.
"Being fully aware of the apprehension regarding damaging the top flight as an elite competition of the nation. But concurrently, if you engage with division representatives after this week's discussion, they would have had a significant degree of comfort -and, actually, 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 Labour Party in 2020.
The chairman contributed funds to Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport the politician's campaign, along with that of the now Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.
"I've been completely open about my past party membership [with Labour], and that political affiliation came to an end the day the official body endorsed my nomination," the chairman stated.
"I am no longer involved in any type of partisan engagement."
