'We will play a key role in football's future' - football oversight chief David Kogan
The Championship club's ongoing struggles are seen as a "serious issue" and the football regulator is seeking powers to examine team situations in similar circumstances, the recently named head the regulator has declared.
In a wide-ranging interview, the chairman, who was appointed on Monday, expressed "sympathy" towards supporters of the Owls.
The chairman convened with four supporter groups connected to the Championship side this week.
The football club have been struggling on and off the field in this season, with the club failing to pay players on time on multiple instances, including in the autumn.
"Clearly Sheffield Wednesday has been a major concern for the league and a substantial concern for English football," the chairman stated.
"Wednesday stands as one of the historic institutions for English football and in recent days we have met fan representatives.
"We are seeking authority... which will enable us to take Wednesday and comparable cases brought to our attention if they require examination and dealt with."
Financial Struggles and Leadership Concerns
The team's struggling chairman Dejphon Chansiri suggested earlier this year he would be willing to sell up at their home ground, but he has been unable to finalize an agreement with potential new owners.
Delayed salary payments on time in spring months resulted in restrictions being imposed by the league officials in summer, preventing the club from carrying out any player acquisitions for the subsequent signing windows, although the ban was rescinded in the end of the transfer window.
Regulator's Perspective
The regulator explained: "Our role exists to serve the fans of Sheffield Wednesday, Bury or any football club where people are committed to a community organization that has been part of their lives in numerous instances.
"I fully appreciate the team's plight, as I do for each organization that over recent decades have faced collapse, or approached financial ruin, for causes separate from the fans themselves."
When asked if the regulator could force an owner to sell a club if they are considered unfit, the chairman responded: "Should the inquiry concern 'would we intervene in the final instance?', the answer is once we gather the evidence and understand the situation, we will."
But the chairman emphasized that compelling proprietors to divest clubs would be viewed as the ultimate measure and the authority would rather to cooperate with proprietors.
"The last thing what we want to do is commence engagement with an particular organization, an individual owner, without having the opportunity to collaborate with that proprietor to address the issues that the club's facing and the proprietor's dealing with," Kogan said.
"In actuality, when you look back over the history of the game, over the recent generations there have been some owners, not many, but particular people who have shown negligence in the way which they've been managing their organizations and finally refuse to accept accountability for the coming years."
Owls fans have been demonstrating against the current proprietor in recent months
'Mistakes could erase significant advances'
The chairman convened with delegates from multiple organizations to detail the scope of the authority recently and maintained it represented a "progressive gathering" with a "significant participation" from the grassroots to elite level.
"It's a job that's actually really important, because if errors are made, if the football community fails, the extraordinary progress that's been made necessary will vanish incredibly quickly," the chairman stated.
"Such an outcome is universally undesirable in the realm of domestic football is a major achievement - we must maintain momentum.
"Substantial financial resources entering the sport and has been invested for the recent generations, because there's no guarantee it will persist in entering the game, 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."
Top Flight Apprehensions
Elite division representatives objected to the formation of an authority because of fears of a negative impact on the Premier League's sporting equality, but the regulator stated: "I fully support the achievement and development as an economic entity of the Premier League.
"I of all people understand the apprehension regarding damaging the Premier League as a premium product of this country. But at the same time, if you engage with division representatives after the recent gathering, they would have had a substantial amount of confidence -and, indeed, they have been advising us privately they have a significant confidence."
Partisan Associations
The chairman continues to confront a "thorough examination" by the official appointments authority after he disclosed making donations to the opposition group in recent years.
The 68-year-old contributed funds to government minister the minister's leadership bid, along with that of the government leader.
"I've been completely open about my previous political affiliation [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 sort of politics."
