'We are going to be a part of football's future' - independent football regulator the new chairman
Sheffield Wednesday's current difficulties are seen as a "serious issue" and the football regulator is looking to gain the ability to examine team situations in comparable cases, the newly appointed chairman David Kogan has declared.
In a wide-ranging interview, Kogan, who was appointed on Monday, voiced concern towards Wednesday's fanbase.
The regulator engaged with four fan organizations associated with the football team recently.
The team have been facing challenges both on and off the pitch in the current year, with the club failing to pay players on time on five separate occasions, including in September.
"Evidently Wednesday represents a significant problem for EFL and a major challenge for the sport," the regulator explained.
"Sheffield Wednesday is one of the great brands for English football and recently we have met supporters' organizations.
"We're now looking to get powers... which will enable us to take Wednesday and comparable cases brought to our attention if they need to be investigated and dealt with."
Economic Challenges and Leadership Concerns
The club's controversial proprietor the current owner indicated in the summer he would be willing to sell up at Hillsborough, but he has been unable to finalize an agreement with potential new owners.
Delayed salary payments on time in spring months caused limitations by the English Football League (EFL) in mid-year, stopping Wednesday from completing any player acquisitions for the subsequent signing windows, although that restriction was lifted in late summer.
Official's Viewpoint
Kogan said: "The job [of the regulator] is there for the fans of Sheffield Wednesday, Bury or any football club where supporters are loyal to a community organization that has represented their community in numerous instances.
"I fully appreciate Sheffield Wednesday, as I do for all the clubs that in modern times have encountered failure, or been close to going to the wall, for causes separate from the followers."
Inquired if the authority might compel an proprietor to divest a club if they are judged inappropriate, the regulator answered: "If your question is 'would we intervene in the final instance?', the reply is once we assemble the facts and understand the situation, we will."
But Kogan stressed that requiring chairmen to relinquish clubs would be treated as a "last resort" and the oversight body would choose to cooperate with proprietors.
"Our least desirable course of action is begin intervening in an individual club, an specific proprietor, without being in a position to cooperate with that owner to try and resolve the issues that the club's facing and the chairman's encountering," Kogan said.
"But the truth is, when you look back over the history of the game, over the last 20 or 30 years there have been some owners, a small minority, but some who have been irresponsible in the approach they have taken toward their teams and eventually decline to assume obligation for the long-term prospects."
Owls fans have been demonstrating against owner Dejphon Chansiri in recent months
'Errors may undo substantial development'
The chairman convened with representatives from 110 clubs to lay out the remit of the regulator on Wednesday and insisted it was a "progressive gathering" with a "significant participation" 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 extraordinary progress that's been made might evaporate swiftly," Kogan said.
"And that's what nobody wants in the context of the English game is a substantial accomplishment - we must maintain momentum.
"There's an enormous amount of money flowing into the game and has come into football for the recent generations, because certainty is lacking it will continue to come into football, which is part of the rationale behind I think we have to take a really clear view on challenges and obviously, of the next two or three years."
Top Flight Apprehensions
Elite division representatives objected to the establishment of an oversight body because of fears of a negative impact on the Premier League's sporting equality, but the chairman responded: "I completely endorse the prosperity and expansion as an economic entity of the top division.
"I of all people understand the concern of undermining the division as a high-quality offering of England. But concurrently, if you engage with division representatives after the recent gathering, they would have had a significant degree of comfort -and, in fact, they have been advising us privately they have a considerable comfort."
Ideological Links
The regulator remains subject to a "comprehensive investigation" by the official appointments authority after he revealed he contributed money 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 been entirely transparent regarding my past party membership [with Labour], and that ideological connection terminated the day the official body endorsed my nomination," the chairman stated.
"I currently have no participation in any type of partisan engagement."
