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Sheffield Wednesday's persistent issues constitute a "serious issue" and the independent regulator is looking to gain the ability to look into club affairs in similar circumstances, its new chair David Kogan has stated.

In a wide-ranging interview, Kogan, who was recently selected, expressed "sympathy" towards supporters of the Owls.

The regulator engaged with four fan organizations associated with the football team in recent days.

The football club have been struggling on and off the field in this season, with the club missing wage payments on five separate occasions, including in September.

"Obviously the club has become a significant problem for EFL and a major challenge for the sport," Kogan told.

"Sheffield Wednesday is one of the great brands for the English game and this week we have met Sheffield Wednesday supporters' groups.

"We're now looking to get powers... which will enable us to take Sheffield Wednesday - and other clubs referred to us if they require examination and dealt with."

Monetary Issues and Leadership Concerns

The team's struggling chairman the Thai businessman indicated in the summer he would be open to selling the club at the stadium, but he has not been able to secure a deal with potential new owners.

Delayed salary payments on time in March and May led to sanctions by the English Football League (EFL) in June, blocking the team from conducting any recruitment activities for the following recruitment periods, although the ban was rescinded in the end of the transfer window.

Official's Viewpoint

Kogan said: "The position was created for the fans of Sheffield Wednesday, other clubs in similar situations where people are committed to a local institution that has existed throughout their lifetimes in numerous instances.

"I fully appreciate Sheffield Wednesday, as I do for each organization that in modern times have encountered failure, or approached financial ruin, for factors unrelated to the supporters."

Inquired if the regulator could force an proprietor to divest a club if they are deemed unsuitable, the chairman responded: "If your question is 'would we intervene in the final instance?', the response would be once we gather the evidence 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 oversight body would choose to cooperate with proprietors.

"The final option we would consider is commence engagement with an individual club, an individual owner, without having the opportunity to collaborate with that chairman to fix the problems affecting the organization and the owner's facing," the chairman stated.

"However, realistically, when you look back over the history of the game, over the past few decades there have been certain proprietors, not many, but particular people who have shown negligence in the approach they have taken toward their clubs and ultimately decline to assume obligation for the long-term prospects."

'Mistakes could erase significant advances'

The chairman convened with officials from numerous teams to lay out the remit of the authority recently and insisted it was a "proactive meeting" with a "substantial involvement" from the National League to the Premier League.

"The role holds considerable importance, because if we get it wrong, if the football community fails, the significant advances achieved necessary will vanish swiftly," the chairman stated.

"Such an outcome is universally undesirable in the context of the English game is a huge success story - we need to continue the progress.

"Considerable investment entering the sport and has been channeled for the past two decades, because certainty is lacking it will persist in entering the game, which is part of the rationale behind I think we have to adopt a precise perspective on risk and of course, of the immediate future."

Top Flight Apprehensions

Top flight officials resisted the establishment of an oversight body because of fears of a negative impact on the top-flight's competitiveness, but Kogan said: "I completely endorse the prosperity and expansion as an financial organization of the elite league.

"I of all people understand the worry about compromising the Premier League as a premium product of England. But concurrently, if you engage with division representatives after this week's discussion, they would have had a high level of reassurance -and, actually, they have been informing us confidentially they have a high level of reassurance."

Ideological Links

The regulator remains subject to a "comprehensive investigation" by the official appointments authority after he acknowledged providing funds to the political party in recent years.

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 party membership ceased the day the parliamentary committee confirmed my selection," Kogan said.

"I am no longer involved in any form of political activity."