'Our role is integral to football's future' - football oversight chief the new chairman
Sheffield Wednesday's current difficulties constitute a "major concern" and the independent regulator is aiming to acquire authority to look into club affairs in comparable cases, its new chair the official has stated.
In a wide-ranging interview, the regulator, who was recently selected, expressed "sympathy" towards the club's followers.
Kogan met with four supporters' associations connected to the South Yorkshire club recently.
The Championship side have been struggling on and off the field in 2025, with the club missing wage payments on several different times, including in September.
"Obviously the club has become a significant problem for EFL and a substantial concern for English football," the chairman stated.
"Sheffield Wednesday is one of the historic institutions for English football and recently we have met supporters' organizations.
"We're now looking to get powers... which will permit us to bring Wednesday and comparable cases submitted for our review if they require examination and addressed."
Economic Challenges and Leadership Concerns
The club's controversial proprietor the Thai businessman suggested earlier this year he would be open to selling the club at the stadium, but he has failed to complete a sale with potential new owners.
Delayed salary payments on time in spring months resulted in restrictions being imposed by the league officials in June, stopping Wednesday from completing any recruitment activities for the following recruitment periods, although the ban was rescinded in the end of the transfer window.
Regulator's Perspective
The chairman stated: "The job [of the regulator] is there for the fans of Sheffield Wednesday, teams facing challenges where fans are dedicated to a community organization that has represented their community in many cases.
"I have absolute sympathy for the team's plight, as I do for all the clubs that in modern times have encountered failure, or approached financial ruin, for factors unrelated to the followers."
When asked if the regulator could force an owner to sell a club if they are considered unfit, the regulator answered: "If your question is 'would we intervene in the final instance?', the answer is once we gather the evidence and understand the situation, we will."
But the regulator clarified that forcing owners to sell clubs would be viewed as the ultimate measure and the authority would rather to work with them.
"The last thing what we want to do is commence engagement with an particular organization, an specific proprietor, without being able to work with that proprietor to address the issues that the club's facing and the owner's facing," the regulator explained.
"But the truth is, when you look back over the history of football, over the recent generations there have been some owners, not many, but certain individuals who have acted carelessly in the way which they've been managing their clubs and ultimately decline to assume obligation for the future."
Sheffield Wednesday supporters have been demonstrating against the current proprietor this season
'Errors may undo substantial development'
The regulator engaged representatives from 110 clubs to explain the responsibilities of the authority recently and stated it constituted 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 errors are made, if the world of football gets it wrong, the extraordinary progress that's been made could disappear swiftly," Kogan said.
"This represents everyone's worst fear in the context of the English game is a substantial accomplishment - we've got to keep it going.
"Considerable investment flowing into the game and has been channeled for the past two decades, because there are no assurances it will keep flowing into the sport, which is among the factors explaining I think we have to take a really clear view on risk and of course, of the immediate future."
Top Flight Apprehensions
Elite division representatives objected to the creation of a regulator because of apprehensions regarding adverse consequences on the elite division's competitive balance, but Kogan said: "I'm absolutely committed to the prosperity and expansion as an commercial operation of the elite league.
"Being fully aware of the worry about compromising 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 informing us confidentially they have a significant confidence."
Partisan Associations
Kogan is still facing a "comprehensive investigation" by the official appointments authority after he acknowledged providing funds to the Labour Party in recent years.
The 68-year-old donated money 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 previous political affiliation [with Labour], and that political affiliation came to an end the day the official body endorsed my nomination," the chairman stated.
"I am presently disconnected from any sort of politics."
