'We are going to be a part of football's future' - independent football regulator the new chairman
The team's ongoing struggles are seen as a "significant problem" and the football regulator is aiming to acquire authority to investigate clubs in such situations, the recently named head the official has announced.
Through a comprehensive talk, Kogan, who was named to the position this week, expressed "sympathy" towards the club's followers.
The regulator engaged with four supporter groups representing the South Yorkshire club this week.
The Championship side have been struggling on and off the field in 2025, with the club failing to pay players on time on five separate occasions, including in September.
"Clearly Sheffield Wednesday has been a major concern for the league and a substantial concern for English football," the chairman stated.
"Wednesday stands as one of the historic institutions for English football and this week we have met Sheffield Wednesday supporters' groups.
"Our aim is to acquire the ability... which will allow us to have Wednesday and comparable cases submitted for our review if they require examination and dealt with."
Economic Challenges and Proprietorship Status
Wednesday's embattled owner 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 potential new owners.
Failure to pay player wages on time in March and May led to sanctions by the English Football League (EFL) in summer, stopping Wednesday from completing any transfers or loans for the following recruitment periods, although those limitations were removed in the end of the transfer window.
Official's Viewpoint
The regulator explained: "Our role exists to serve the fans of Sheffield Wednesday, Bury or any football club where people are committed to a local institution that has been part of their lives in numerous instances.
"I fully appreciate the team's plight, as I do for every team that over recent decades have faced collapse, or nearly ceased operations, for factors unrelated to the supporters."
Questioned about whether the oversight body could require an chairman to relinquish a club if they are judged inappropriate, the regulator answered: "Should the inquiry concern 'would we intervene in the final instance?', the reply is once we gather the evidence and know what's going on, we will."
But the regulator clarified that requiring chairmen to relinquish clubs would be treated as a "last resort" and the authority would rather to cooperate with proprietors.
"Our least desirable course of action is start getting involved with an individual club, an particular chairman, without being able to work with that owner to try and resolve the problems affecting the organization and the owner's facing," the regulator explained.
"In actuality, when you look back over the history of the sport, over the recent generations there have been some owners, not many, but some who have been irresponsible in the way which they've been managing their clubs and ultimately refuse to accept accountability for the long-term prospects."
Owls fans have been demonstrating against the current proprietor during the current campaign
'Mistakes could erase significant advances'
The chairman convened with representatives from 110 clubs to lay out the remit of the regulator on Wednesday and maintained it represented a "forward-thinking discussion" with a "substantial involvement" from the National League to the Premier League.
"The role holds considerable importance, because should mistakes occur, if the world of football gets it wrong, the extraordinary progress that's been made might evaporate incredibly quickly," the regulator warned.
"This represents everyone's worst fear in the realm of domestic football is a huge success story - we must maintain momentum.
"There's an enormous amount of money coming into football and has been invested for the recent generations, because certainty is lacking it will persist in entering the game, which is part of the rationale behind I think we have to maintain a focused outlook on risk and of course, of the next two or three years."
Top Flight Apprehensions
Top flight officials resisted the establishment of an oversight body because of apprehensions regarding adverse consequences on the elite division's competitive balance, but the regulator stated: "I fully support the success and growth as an economic entity of the Premier League.
"Being fully aware of the concern of undermining the division as a high-quality offering 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 informing us confidentially they have a considerable comfort."
Partisan Associations
The chairman continues to confront a "full inquiry" by the official appointments authority after he disclosed making donations to the opposition group in the past.
The 68-year-old contributed funds to 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 party membership ceased the day the parliamentary committee confirmed my selection," Kogan said.
"I am presently disconnected from any sort of politics."
