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Sheffield Wednesday's ongoing struggles represent a a "serious issue" and the independent regulator is aiming to acquire authority to look into club affairs in such situations, the newly appointed chairman David Kogan has declared.

In a wide-ranging interview, Kogan, who was recently selected, expressed "sympathy" towards the club's followers.

The regulator engaged with four fan organizations associated with the South Yorkshire club in recent days.

The team have been facing challenges both on and off the pitch in the current year, with the club missing wage payments on five separate occasions, including in September.

"Clearly Sheffield Wednesday has been a significant problem for EFL and a significant problem for football," Kogan told.

"Sheffield Wednesday is one of the iconic names for the English game and in recent days we have met fan representatives.

"Our aim is to acquire the ability... which will enable us to take the club and similar situations referred to us if they warrant scrutiny and acted upon."

Economic Challenges and Leadership Concerns

The club's controversial proprietor Dejphon Chansiri indicated in the summer he would be open to selling the club at their home ground, but he has not been able to secure a deal with potential new owners.

Failure to pay player wages on time in earlier this year caused limitations by the football authorities in June, blocking the team from conducting any player acquisitions for the subsequent signing windows, although the ban was rescinded in the end of the transfer window.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: "The job [of the regulator] is there for the fans of Sheffield Wednesday, other clubs in similar situations where people are committed to a local institution that has represented their community in many cases.

"I fully appreciate Sheffield Wednesday, as I do for each organization that since 1992 have gone to the wall, or nearly ceased operations, for causes separate from the followers."

Questioned about whether the regulator could force an owner to sell a club if they are considered unfit, Kogan said: "When asking whether 'would we intervene in the final instance?', the reply is once we assemble the facts and understand the situation, we will."

But the chairman emphasized that forcing owners to sell clubs would be treated as a "last resort" and the regulator would prefer to work with them.

"Our least desirable course of action is start getting involved with an individual club, an specific proprietor, without having the opportunity to collaborate with that proprietor to address the problems affecting the organization and the owner's facing," the regulator explained.

"But the truth is, when you review the record of the game, over the last 20 or 30 years there have been some owners, a small minority, but some who have been irresponsible in the approach they have taken toward their clubs and ultimately refuse to accept accountability for the coming years."

'If we get it wrong, extraordinary progress vanishes'

The chairman convened with officials from numerous teams to explain the responsibilities of the oversight body this week and stated it constituted a "forward-thinking discussion" with a "substantial involvement" from the grassroots to elite level.

"The role holds considerable importance, because if errors are made, if the world of football gets it wrong, the extraordinary progress that's been made necessary will vanish swiftly," the regulator warned.

"And that's what nobody wants in the context of the English game is a huge success story - we must maintain momentum.

"There's an enormous amount of money flowing into the game 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 adopt a precise perspective on potential dangers and naturally, of the next two or three years."

Top Flight Apprehensions

Top flight officials resisted the creation of a regulator because of apprehensions regarding adverse consequences on the top-flight's competitiveness, but Kogan said: "I fully support the prosperity and expansion as an financial organization of the Premier League.

"As someone who appreciates the worry about compromising the division as a high-quality offering of this country. But at the same time, if you engage with division representatives after this week's discussion, they would have had a significant degree of comfort -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 acknowledged providing funds to the opposition group in 2020.

The 68-year-old donated money to Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport the politician's campaign, along with that of the now Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.

"I have been entirely transparent regarding my past party membership [with Labour], and that party membership ceased the day the parliamentary committee confirmed my selection," the chairman stated.

"I currently have no participation in any sort of politics."