'We will play a key role in football's future' - football oversight chief the regulator's chair
Sheffield Wednesday's persistent issues are seen as a "significant problem" and the football regulator is aiming to acquire authority to investigate clubs in similar circumstances, its new chair the official has announced.
Through a comprehensive talk, the regulator, who was named to the position this week, voiced concern towards Wednesday's fanbase.
Kogan met with four fan organizations connected to the football team in recent days.
The team have been struggling on and off the field in 2025, with the club missing wage payments on five separate occasions, including in September.
"Clearly Sheffield Wednesday has been a serious issue for football authorities and a substantial concern for English football," Kogan told.
"Sheffield Wednesday is one of the historic institutions for football in England and recently we have met Sheffield Wednesday supporters' groups.
"Our aim is to acquire the ability... which will enable us to take Sheffield Wednesday - and other clubs submitted for our review if they need to be investigated and dealt with."
Financial Struggles and Leadership Concerns
The club's controversial proprietor the Thai businessman indicated in the summer he would be open to selling the club at the stadium, but he has not been able to secure a deal with potential new owners.
Failure to pay player wages on time in spring months caused limitations by the football authorities in summer, stopping Wednesday from completing any recruitment activities for the next three transfer windows, although the ban was rescinded in August.
Authority's Position
The regulator explained: "The job [of the regulator] is there for the fans of Sheffield Wednesday, Bury or any football club where fans are dedicated to a local institution that has been part of their lives in numerous instances.
"I fully appreciate the club's situation, as I do for each organization that since 1992 have gone to the wall, or approached financial ruin, for causes separate from the fans themselves."
Questioned about whether the oversight body could require an proprietor to divest a club if they are judged inappropriate, the regulator answered: "When asking whether 'would we intervene in the final instance?', the answer is once we gather the evidence and understand the situation, we will."
But the chairman emphasized that requiring chairmen to relinquish 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 particular chairman, without having the opportunity to collaborate with that proprietor to address the problems affecting the organization and the chairman's encountering," the chairman stated.
"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 some who have been irresponsible in the way which they've been managing their organizations and finally decline to assume obligation for the long-term prospects."
Owls fans have been demonstrating against the team's chairman during the current campaign
'Errors may undo substantial development'
The chairman convened with officials from numerous teams to detail the scope of the authority recently 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 sport makes errors, the remarkable development accomplished could disappear incredibly quickly," Kogan said.
"This represents everyone's worst fear in the terms of English football is a huge success story - we must maintain momentum.
"Considerable investment coming into football and has come into football for the past two decades, because certainty is lacking it will keep flowing into the sport, which is part of the rationale behind I think we have to adopt a precise perspective on risk and of course, 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 success and growth as an economic entity of the elite league.
"As someone who appreciates the apprehension regarding damaging the Premier League as a premium product of the nation. But at the same time, if you consult with top flight officials after the recent gathering, they would have had a significant degree of comfort -and, indeed, they have been advising us privately they have a significant confidence."
Ideological Links
Kogan is still facing a "thorough examination" by the public appointments commissioner after he revealed he contributed money to the Labour Party in the past.
The official provided financial support for government minister Lisa Nandy's leadership campaign, along with that of the now Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.
"I've been completely open about my former ideological connection [with Labour], and that ideological connection terminated the day the parliamentary committee confirmed my selection," Kogan said.
"I currently have no participation in any type of partisan engagement."
