'Our role is integral to football's future' - newly appointed regulator David Kogan
The Championship club's persistent issues constitute a "major concern" and the football regulator is looking to gain the ability to investigate clubs in comparable cases, the newly appointed chairman David Kogan has announced.
In a wide-ranging interview, the chairman, who was recently selected, expressed "sympathy" towards supporters of the Owls.
Kogan met with four supporters' associations associated with the South Yorkshire club this week.
The football club have been facing challenges both on and off the pitch in this season, with the club missing wage payments on several different times, including in the autumn.
"Clearly Sheffield Wednesday has been a significant problem for EFL and a significant problem for football," the chairman stated.
"Wednesday stands as one of the great brands for English football and this week we have met Sheffield Wednesday supporters' groups.
"We're now looking to get powers... which will permit us to bring Sheffield Wednesday - and other clubs submitted for our review if they need to be investigated and acted upon."
Economic Challenges and Leadership Concerns
The club's controversial proprietor Dejphon Chansiri indicated in the summer he would be prepared to relinquish control at Hillsborough, but he has been unable to finalize an agreement with potential new owners.
Failure to pay player wages on time in March and May caused limitations by the football authorities in summer, blocking the team from conducting any transfers or loans for the next three transfer windows, although that restriction was lifted in August.
Regulator's Perspective
The regulator explained: "The job [of the regulator] is there for the Owls followers, other clubs in similar situations where supporters are loyal to a community organization that has represented their community in many cases.
"I fully appreciate the club's situation, as I do for every team that over recent decades have faced collapse, or approached financial ruin, for factors unrelated to the followers."
When asked if the oversight body could require an owner to sell a club if they are considered unfit, the regulator answered: "When asking whether 'would we intervene in the final instance?', the answer is once we assemble the facts and understand the situation, we will."
But the chairman emphasized that requiring chairmen to relinquish clubs would be treated as a "last resort" and the regulator would prefer to work with them.
"The last thing what we want to do is start getting involved with an particular organization, an particular chairman, without being in a position to cooperate with that chairman to fix the problems affecting the organization and the proprietor's dealing with," the regulator explained.
"In actuality, when you review the record of the game, over the last 20 or 30 years there have been certain proprietors, a small minority, but particular people who have shown negligence in the approach they have taken toward their clubs and ultimately don't wish to take responsibility for the coming years."
Sheffield Wednesday supporters have been voicing opposition to the current proprietor in recent months
'Errors may undo substantial development'
The chairman convened with officials from numerous teams to lay out the remit of the oversight body this week and stated it constituted a "progressive gathering" with a "high level of engagement" from the grassroots to elite level.
"This position carries substantial significance, because if we get it wrong, if the world of football gets it wrong, the significant advances achieved could disappear incredibly quickly," the regulator warned.
"Such an outcome is universally undesirable in the realm of domestic football is a huge success story - we've got to keep it going.
"There's an enormous amount of money flowing into the game and has been channeled for the past two decades, because there are no assurances it will continue to come into football, which is among the factors explaining I think we have to take a really clear view on risk and of course, of the next two or three years."
Elite Division Worries
The Premier League opposed the creation of a regulator because of apprehensions regarding adverse consequences on the Premier League's sporting equality, but the chairman responded: "I fully support the prosperity and expansion as an commercial operation of the elite league.
"As someone who appreciates the worry about compromising the division as a high-quality offering of England. But at the same time, if you consult with top flight officials after this week's discussion, they would have had a substantial amount of confidence -and, actually, they have been telling us in private they have a considerable comfort."
Ideological Links
The regulator remains subject to a "comprehensive investigation" by the public appointments commissioner after he revealed he contributed money to the Labour Party in recent years.
The 68-year-old provided financial support for Culture Secretary the politician's campaign, 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 official body endorsed my nomination," the regulator explained.
"I am presently disconnected from any sort of politics."