'Our role is integral to football's future' - newly appointed regulator the new chairman
The Championship club's current difficulties are seen as a "serious issue" and the new football authority is looking to gain the ability to examine team situations in comparable cases, the recently named head David Kogan has announced.
In a wide-ranging interview, Kogan, who was named to the position this week, expressed "sympathy" towards Wednesday's fanbase.
Kogan met with four supporters' associations connected to the South Yorkshire club this week.
The team have been struggling on and off the field in this season, with the club missing wage payments on multiple instances, including in the autumn.
"Obviously the club has become a significant problem for EFL and a major challenge for the sport," the chairman stated.
"The club represents one of the great brands for English football and recently we have met fan representatives.
"We're now looking to get powers... which will enable us to take Wednesday and comparable cases submitted for our review if they warrant scrutiny and addressed."
Economic Challenges and Ownership Situation
Wednesday's embattled owner the current owner indicated in the summer he would be willing to sell up at the stadium, but he has failed to complete a sale with potential new owners.
Missed wage deadlines on time in earlier this year caused limitations by the football authorities in June, blocking the team from conducting any recruitment activities for the following recruitment periods, although that restriction was lifted in the end of the transfer window.
Official's Viewpoint
Kogan said: "The position was created for the supporters of Wednesday, teams facing challenges where fans are dedicated to a local institution that has existed throughout their lifetimes in multiple situations.
"I have absolute sympathy for the club's situation, as I do for all the clubs that over recent decades have faced collapse, or approached financial ruin, for reasons that have nothing to do with the supporters."
When asked if the authority might compel an owner to sell a club if they are judged inappropriate, the chairman responded: "Should the inquiry concern 'would we intervene in the final instance?', the reply is once we assemble the facts and comprehend the circumstances, we will."
But the chairman emphasized that compelling proprietors to divest clubs would be treated as a "last resort" and the authority would rather to work with them.
"Our least desirable course of action is start getting involved with an individual club, an specific proprietor, without being in a position to cooperate with that chairman to fix the issues that the club's facing and the chairman's encountering," the regulator explained.
"However, realistically, when you look back over the history of the game, over the recent generations there have been certain proprietors, not many, but particular people who have shown negligence in the approach they have taken toward their clubs and ultimately refuse to accept accountability for the long-term prospects."
Wednesday followers have been protesting against the current proprietor in recent months
'Mistakes could erase significant advances'
Kogan met with representatives from 110 clubs to explain the responsibilities of the regulator on Wednesday and maintained it represented a "progressive gathering" with a "significant participation" from the National League to the Premier League.
"It's a job that's actually really important, because if errors are made, if the football community fails, the significant advances achieved might evaporate incredibly quickly," Kogan said.
"And that's what nobody wants in the context of the English game is a major achievement - we've got to keep it going.
"There's an enormous amount of money flowing into the game and has come into football for the past two decades, because certainty is lacking it will persist in entering the game, 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."
Elite Division Worries
Top flight officials resisted the formation of an authority because of concerns about detrimental effects on the Premier League's sporting equality, but Kogan said: "I fully support the success and growth as an financial organization of the top division.
"Being fully aware of the worry about compromising the division as a high-quality offering of the nation. But simultaneously, if you consult with top flight officials after today's meeting, they would have had a high level of reassurance -and, indeed, they have been informing us confidentially they have a significant confidence."
Ideological Links
Kogan is still facing a "thorough examination" by the official appointments authority after he acknowledged providing funds to the opposition group in the past.
The chairman donated money to Culture Secretary the minister's leadership bid, along with that of the current Prime Minister.
"I have fully disclosed my former ideological connection [with Labour], and that ideological connection terminated the day the select committee approved my appointment," the regulator explained.
"I currently have no participation in any type of partisan engagement."
