'Our role is integral to football's future' - newly appointed regulator the new chairman
The Championship club's persistent issues are seen as a "major concern" and the independent regulator is seeking powers to investigate clubs in similar circumstances, its new chair David Kogan has announced.
In a wide-ranging interview, the chairman, who was appointed on Monday, showed understanding towards Wednesday's fanbase.
Kogan met with four supporter groups representing the Championship side recently.
The team have been experiencing difficulties in multiple areas in this season, with the club missing wage payments on multiple instances, including in last month.
"Obviously the club has become a significant problem for EFL and a major challenge for the sport," the chairman stated.
"Wednesday stands as one of the iconic names for football in England and recently we have met fan representatives.
"We're now looking to get powers... which will enable us to take Sheffield Wednesday - and other clubs referred to us if they need to be investigated and acted upon."
Monetary Issues and Leadership Concerns
The team's struggling chairman Dejphon Chansiri stated during the off-season he would be open to selling the club at their home ground, but he has not been able to secure a deal with interested parties.
Missed wage deadlines on time in March and May led to sanctions by the league officials in June, stopping Wednesday from completing any recruitment activities for the subsequent signing windows, although those limitations were removed in August.
Official's Viewpoint
The chairman stated: "The job [of the regulator] is there for the supporters of Wednesday, teams facing challenges where fans are dedicated to a local institution that has existed throughout their lifetimes in numerous instances.
"I completely understand the team's plight, as I do for each organization that over recent decades have faced collapse, or been close to going to the wall, for causes separate from the fans themselves."
When asked if the regulator could force 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 answer is once we assemble the facts and understand the situation, we will."
But the regulator clarified that compelling proprietors to divest clubs would be viewed as the ultimate measure and the regulator would prefer to work with them.
"The final option we would consider is start getting involved with an individual club, an individual owner, without being able to work with that chairman to fix the problems affecting the organization and the owner's facing," Kogan said.
"But the truth is, when you review the record of the game, over the last 20 or 30 years there have been some owners, a small minority, but particular people who have shown negligence in the approach they have taken toward their teams and eventually refuse to accept accountability for the future."
Sheffield Wednesday supporters have been voicing opposition to the team's chairman during the current campaign
'If we get it wrong, extraordinary progress vanishes'
The chairman convened with representatives from 110 clubs to detail the scope of the oversight body this week and stated it constituted a "forward-thinking discussion" with a "high level of engagement" from the grassroots to elite level.
"It's a job that's actually really important, because should mistakes occur, if the football community fails, the significant advances achieved could disappear rapidly," the regulator warned.
"This represents everyone's worst fear in the realm of domestic football is a huge success story - we've got to keep it going.
"There's an enormous amount of money entering the sport and has been invested for the past two decades, because certainty is lacking it will continue to come into football, which is part of the rationale behind I think we have to adopt a precise perspective on potential dangers and naturally, of the next two or three years."
Elite Division Worries
Elite division representatives objected to the creation of a regulator because of concerns about detrimental effects on the elite division's competitive balance, but the regulator stated: "I completely endorse the achievement and development as an commercial operation 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 substantial amount of confidence -and, in fact, they have been advising us privately they have a significant confidence."
Political Connections
Kogan is still facing a "full inquiry" by the Commissioner for Public Appointments after he acknowledged providing funds to the Labour Party in recent years.
The official contributed funds to Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy's leadership campaign, along with that of the government leader.
"I've been completely open about my former ideological connection [with Labour], and that party membership ceased the day the select committee approved my appointment," the chairman stated.
"I am no longer involved in any type of partisan engagement."
