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Sheffield Wednesday's ongoing struggles constitute a "significant problem" and the new football authority is looking to gain the ability to investigate clubs in comparable cases, its new chair David Kogan has announced.

In a wide-ranging interview, the regulator, who was named to the position this week, showed understanding towards Wednesday's fanbase.

Kogan met with four fan organizations representing the South Yorkshire club in recent days.

The team have been experiencing difficulties in multiple areas in 2025, with the club missing wage payments on five separate occasions, including in September.

"Obviously the club has become a major concern for the league and a significant problem for football," the chairman stated.

"Sheffield Wednesday is one of the iconic names for the English game and in recent days we have met fan representatives.

"We're now looking to get powers... which will allow us to have Wednesday and comparable cases referred to us if they need to be investigated and acted upon."

Financial Struggles and Proprietorship Status

Wednesday's embattled owner the current owner indicated in the summer he would be open to selling the club at Hillsborough, but he has been unable to finalize an agreement with interested parties.

Failure to pay player wages on time in March and May caused limitations by the football authorities in mid-year, preventing the club from carrying out any player acquisitions for the following recruitment periods, although those limitations were removed in August.

Official's Viewpoint

The regulator explained: "The job [of the regulator] is there for the supporters of Wednesday, other clubs in similar situations where fans are dedicated to a community organization that has been part of their lives in multiple situations.

"I completely understand the team's plight, as I do for all the clubs that since 1992 have gone to the wall, or approached financial ruin, for causes separate from the fans themselves."

Inquired if the authority might compel an owner to sell a club if they are judged inappropriate, the regulator answered: "If your question is 'would we intervene in the final instance?', the answer is once we gather the evidence and comprehend the circumstances, we will."

But Kogan stressed that compelling proprietors to divest clubs would be treated as a "last resort" and the regulator would prefer to work with them.

"Our least desirable course of action is begin intervening in an specific team, an specific proprietor, without being in a position to cooperate with that owner to try and resolve the problems affecting the organization and the proprietor's dealing with," the chairman stated.

"In actuality, when you examine the past of the sport, over the last 20 or 30 years there have been some owners, few in number, but some who have been irresponsible in the manner they have operated their teams and eventually refuse to accept accountability for the long-term prospects."

'If we get it wrong, extraordinary progress vanishes'

Kogan met with officials from numerous teams to detail the scope of the regulator on Wednesday and maintained it represented a "progressive gathering" with a "high level of engagement" from the National League to the Premier League.

"This position carries substantial significance, because if we get it wrong, if the world of football gets it wrong, the extraordinary progress that's been made might evaporate swiftly," Kogan said.

"Such an outcome is universally undesirable in the terms of English football is a huge success story - we must maintain momentum.

"Substantial financial resources entering the sport and has been channeled for the last 20 or 25 years, because there's no guarantee it will keep flowing into the sport, which is one of the reasons why I think we have to take a really clear view on potential dangers and naturally, of the next two or three years."

Premier League Concerns

Top flight officials resisted the formation of an authority because of apprehensions regarding adverse consequences on the elite division's competitive balance, but the regulator stated: "I completely endorse the prosperity and expansion as an commercial operation of the Premier League.

"As someone who appreciates the worry about compromising the division as a high-quality offering of this country. But at the same time, if you consult with top flight officials after this week's discussion, they would have had a high level of reassurance -and, in fact, they have been advising us privately they have a significant confidence."

Partisan Associations

The chairman continues to confront a "full inquiry" by the public appointments commissioner after he disclosed making donations to the political party in the past.

The official contributed funds to government minister the minister's leadership bid, along with that of the current Prime Minister.

"I have fully disclosed my past party membership [with Labour], and that political affiliation came to an end the day the select committee approved my appointment," Kogan said.

"I am no longer involved in any type of partisan engagement."