'We will play a key role in football's future' - football oversight chief the new chairman
Sheffield Wednesday's ongoing struggles constitute a "serious issue" and the football regulator is looking to gain the ability to investigate clubs in comparable cases, its new chair the regulator has stated.
During an extensive discussion, the chairman, who was recently selected, showed understanding towards supporters of the Owls.
Kogan met with four supporters' associations connected to the Championship side this week.
The Championship side have been struggling on and off the field in the current year, with the club missing wage payments on multiple instances, including in September.
"Obviously the club has become a major concern for the league and a major challenge for the sport," Kogan told.
"The club represents one of the historic institutions for the English game and this week we have met Sheffield Wednesday supporters' groups.
"Our aim is to acquire the ability... which will allow us to have the club and similar situations submitted for our review if they require examination and dealt with."
Monetary Issues and Leadership Concerns
Wednesday's embattled owner the Thai businessman indicated in the summer he would be prepared to relinquish control at their home ground, but he has failed to complete a sale with interested parties.
Missed wage deadlines on time in earlier this year resulted in restrictions being imposed by the league officials in June, preventing the club from carrying out any recruitment activities for the subsequent signing windows, although those limitations were removed in the end of the transfer window.
Official's Viewpoint
Kogan said: "The job [of the regulator] is there for the supporters of Wednesday, other clubs in similar situations where supporters are loyal to a local institution that has existed throughout their lifetimes in numerous instances.
"I completely understand the team's plight, as I do for every team that in modern times have encountered failure, or approached financial ruin, for factors unrelated to the followers."
Inquired if the regulator could force an owner to sell a club if they are considered unfit, the regulator answered: "If your question is 'would we intervene in the final instance?', the response would be once we assemble the facts and comprehend the circumstances, we will."
But Kogan stressed that requiring chairmen to relinquish clubs would be treated as a "last resort" and the regulator would prefer to work with them.
"Our least desirable course of action is commence engagement with an particular organization, an specific proprietor, without being able to work with that chairman to fix the issues that the club's facing and the chairman's encountering," the chairman stated.
"But the truth is, when you examine the past of football, over the last 20 or 30 years there have been particular chairmen, a small minority, but particular people who have shown negligence in the manner they have operated their teams and eventually refuse to accept accountability for the long-term prospects."
Sheffield Wednesday supporters have been protesting against the team's chairman this season
'Errors may undo substantial development'
The chairman convened with representatives from 110 clubs to lay out the remit of the oversight body this week and insisted it was a "forward-thinking discussion" with a "significant participation" from the grassroots to elite level.
"This position carries substantial significance, because should mistakes occur, if the football community fails, the remarkable development accomplished might evaporate rapidly," the chairman stated.
"Such an outcome is universally undesirable in the context of the English game is a huge success story - we've got to keep it going.
"Considerable investment entering the sport and has come into football for the last 20 or 25 years, because there's no guarantee it will persist in entering the game, which is among the factors explaining I think we have to maintain a focused outlook on potential dangers and naturally, of the immediate future."
Premier League Concerns
Elite division representatives objected to the formation of an authority because of apprehensions regarding adverse consequences on the Premier League's sporting equality, but Kogan said: "I'm absolutely committed to the prosperity and expansion as an financial organization of the top division.
"Being fully aware of the apprehension regarding damaging the division as a high-quality offering of this country. But simultaneously, if you talk to the Premier League after this week's discussion, they would have had a substantial amount of confidence -and, actually, they have been advising us privately they have a high level of reassurance."
Partisan Associations
The chairman continues to confront a "thorough examination" by the official appointments authority after he acknowledged providing funds to the opposition group in recent years.
The 68-year-old contributed funds to Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport the minister's leadership bid, along with that of the current Prime Minister.
"I've been completely open about my previous political affiliation [with Labour], and that party membership ceased the day the select committee approved my appointment," the chairman stated.
"I am presently disconnected from any type of partisan engagement."