'We are going to be a part of football's future' - independent football regulator the regulator's chair
The team's current difficulties constitute a "serious issue" and the new football authority is looking to gain the ability to investigate clubs in comparable cases, the newly appointed chairman David Kogan has declared.
Through a comprehensive talk, Kogan, who was appointed on Monday, voiced concern towards supporters of the Owls.
Kogan met with four supporters' associations connected to the football team this week.
The Championship side have been facing challenges both on and off the pitch in this season, with the club delaying salary disbursements on several different times, including in September.
"Evidently Wednesday represents a serious issue for football authorities and a major challenge for the sport," the regulator explained.
"The club represents one of the iconic names for English football and this week we have met supporters' organizations.
"Our aim is to acquire the ability... which will enable us to take Wednesday and comparable cases referred to us if they warrant scrutiny and addressed."
Monetary Issues and Ownership Situation
The team's struggling chairman Dejphon Chansiri stated during the off-season he would be open to selling the club at their home ground, but he has been unable to finalize an agreement with potential new owners.
Failure to pay player wages on time in earlier this year led to sanctions by the league officials in mid-year, preventing the club from carrying out any player acquisitions for the next three transfer windows, although that restriction was lifted in late summer.
Authority's Position
The chairman stated: "The job [of the regulator] is there for the Owls followers, teams facing challenges where supporters are loyal to a regional establishment that has existed throughout their lifetimes in multiple situations.
"I completely understand the club's situation, as I do for all the clubs that since 1992 have gone to the wall, or been close to going to the wall, for factors unrelated to the followers."
Inquired if the oversight body could require an proprietor to divest a club if they are considered unfit, the regulator answered: "If your question is 'would we intervene in the final instance?', the reply is once we gather the evidence and comprehend the circumstances, we will."
But the regulator clarified that forcing owners to sell clubs would be considered the final option and the authority would rather to work with them.
"Our least desirable course of action is start getting involved with an specific team, an specific proprietor, without having the opportunity to collaborate with that proprietor to address the issues that the club's facing and the proprietor's dealing with," the chairman stated.
"But the truth is, when you look back over the history of football, over the recent generations there have been particular chairmen, few in number, but certain individuals who have acted carelessly in the way which they've been managing their organizations and finally refuse to accept accountability for the future."
Owls fans have been demonstrating against the team's chairman this season
'If we get it wrong, extraordinary progress vanishes'
Kogan met with officials from numerous teams to lay out the remit of the authority recently and insisted it was 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 sport makes errors, the remarkable development accomplished could disappear incredibly quickly," the regulator warned.
"And that's what nobody wants in the context of the English game is a substantial accomplishment - we must maintain momentum.
"Considerable investment entering the sport and has been channeled for the past two decades, because there are no assurances it will persist in entering the game, 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."
Elite Division Worries
Top flight officials resisted the establishment of an oversight body because of apprehensions regarding adverse consequences on the top-flight's competitiveness, but the regulator stated: "I fully support the achievement and development as an commercial operation of the elite league.
"As someone who appreciates the worry about compromising the Premier League as a premium product of this country. But concurrently, if you talk to the Premier League after this week's discussion, they would have had a high level of reassurance -and, actually, they have been telling us in private they have a considerable comfort."
Partisan Associations
The regulator remains subject to a "thorough examination" by the official appointments authority after he disclosed making donations to the Labour Party in the past.
The official provided financial support for government minister the minister's leadership bid, along with that of the government leader.
"I have fully disclosed my previous political affiliation [with Labour], and that ideological connection terminated the day the select committee approved my appointment," Kogan said.
"I am no longer involved in any type of partisan engagement."
