'We are going to be a part of football's future' - independent football regulator the new chairman
The Championship club's persistent issues are seen as a "major concern" and the independent regulator is aiming to acquire authority to look into club affairs in similar circumstances, its new chair the official has announced.
In a wide-ranging interview, Kogan, who was named to the position this week, expressed "sympathy" towards Wednesday's fanbase.
The chairman convened with four fan organizations representing the Championship side this week.
The Championship side have been experiencing difficulties in multiple areas in 2025, with the club missing wage payments on multiple instances, including in last month.
"Evidently Wednesday represents a major concern for the league and a substantial concern for English football," the regulator explained.
"Sheffield Wednesday is one of the iconic names for English football and in recent days we have met fan representatives.
"Our aim is to acquire the ability... which will enable us to take Wednesday and comparable cases referred to us if they need to be investigated and acted upon."
Economic Challenges and Proprietorship Status
The team's struggling chairman Dejphon Chansiri suggested earlier this year he would be open to selling the club at Hillsborough, but he has been unable to finalize an agreement with interested parties.
Missed wage deadlines on time in March and May led to sanctions by the English Football League (EFL) in summer, blocking the team from conducting any player acquisitions for the subsequent signing windows, although that restriction was lifted in late summer.
Authority's Position
Kogan said: "The position was created for the Owls followers, teams facing challenges where people are committed to a local institution that has been part of their lives in many cases.
"I completely understand Sheffield Wednesday, as I do for every team that over recent decades have faced collapse, or approached financial ruin, for reasons that have nothing to do with the fans themselves."
When asked if the regulator could force an chairman to relinquish a club if they are judged inappropriate, the chairman responded: "When asking whether 'would we intervene in the final instance?', the reply is once we collect the information and understand the situation, we will."
But the chairman emphasized that requiring chairmen to relinquish clubs would be considered the final option and the authority would rather to cooperate with proprietors.
"The final option we would consider is begin intervening in an individual club, an individual owner, without having the opportunity to collaborate with that chairman to fix the issues that the club's facing and the proprietor's dealing with," Kogan said.
"In actuality, when you review the record of the sport, over the recent generations there have been certain proprietors, not many, but some who have been irresponsible in the way which they've been managing their clubs and ultimately don't wish to take responsibility for the long-term prospects."
Owls fans have been protesting against the team's chairman in recent months
'If we get it wrong, extraordinary progress vanishes'
The chairman convened with representatives from 110 clubs to explain the responsibilities of the authority recently and insisted it was a "proactive meeting" with a "high level of engagement" from the lower divisions to the top flight.
"This position carries substantial significance, because should mistakes occur, if the sport makes errors, the extraordinary progress that's been made could disappear incredibly quickly," the regulator warned.
"This represents everyone's worst fear in the realm of domestic football is a huge success story - we need to continue the progress.
"There's an enormous amount of money coming into football and has been invested for the past two decades, because there are no assurances it will persist in entering the game, which is one of the reasons why I think we have to adopt a precise perspective on risk and of course, 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 regulator stated: "I completely endorse the achievement and development as an economic entity of the top division.
"Being fully aware of the worry about compromising the division as a high-quality offering of this country. But simultaneously, if you consult with top flight officials after the recent gathering, they would have had a significant degree of comfort -and, actually, they have been informing us confidentially they have a high level of reassurance."
Partisan Associations
Kogan is still facing a "thorough examination" by the public appointments commissioner after he acknowledged providing funds to the Labour Party in 2020.
The 68-year-old donated money to Culture Secretary the politician's campaign, along with that of the now Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.
"I have been entirely transparent regarding my former ideological connection [with Labour], and that ideological connection terminated the day the official body endorsed my nomination," the regulator explained.
"I am presently disconnected from any form of political activity."
