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The Championship club's ongoing struggles constitute a "significant problem" and the new football authority is aiming to acquire authority to investigate clubs in such situations, its new chair David Kogan has declared.

During an extensive discussion, Kogan, who was appointed on Monday, expressed "sympathy" towards Wednesday's fanbase.

The chairman convened with four supporter groups associated with the South Yorkshire club in recent days.

The Championship side have been struggling on and off the field in the current year, with the club missing wage payments on several different times, including in last month.

"Evidently Wednesday represents a significant problem for EFL and a major challenge for the sport," the regulator explained.

"Wednesday stands as one of the historic institutions for football in England and recently we have met fan representatives.

"We're now looking to get powers... which will enable us to take Wednesday and comparable cases referred to us if they need to be investigated and addressed."

Economic Challenges and Proprietorship Status

The team's struggling chairman the Thai businessman stated during the off-season he would be willing to sell up at the stadium, but he has failed to complete a sale with interested parties.

Missed wage deadlines on time in March and May led to sanctions by the league officials in summer, blocking the team from conducting any recruitment activities for the following recruitment periods, although that restriction was lifted in late summer.

Authority's Position

Kogan said: "The job [of the regulator] is there for the Owls followers, other clubs in similar situations where fans are dedicated to a local institution that has been part of their lives in multiple situations.

"I completely understand the club's situation, as I do for each organization that in modern times have encountered failure, or nearly ceased operations, for factors unrelated to the supporters."

When asked if the authority might compel an owner to sell a club if they are considered unfit, the chairman responded: "Should the inquiry concern 'would we intervene in the final instance?', the response would be once we gather the evidence and understand the situation, we will."

But Kogan stressed that forcing owners to sell clubs would be viewed as the ultimate measure and the authority would rather to cooperate with proprietors.

"Our least desirable course of action is begin intervening in an individual club, an specific proprietor, without being in a position to cooperate with that owner to try and resolve the problems affecting the organization and the chairman's encountering," Kogan said.

"In actuality, when you look back over the history of football, over the recent generations there have been some owners, a small minority, but some who have been irresponsible in the way which they've been managing their teams and eventually refuse to accept accountability for the future."

'Errors may undo substantial development'

Kogan met with delegates from multiple organizations to detail the scope of the regulator on Wednesday and insisted it was a "proactive meeting" with a "significant participation" 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 extraordinary progress that's been made could disappear swiftly," the chairman stated.

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

"Considerable investment flowing into the game and has been invested for the last 20 or 25 years, because there are no assurances it will keep flowing into the sport, which is part of the rationale behind I think we have to maintain a focused outlook on risk and of course, of the immediate future."

Top Flight Apprehensions

Elite division representatives objected to the formation of an authority because of concerns about detrimental effects on the top-flight's competitiveness, but Kogan said: "I fully support the prosperity and expansion as an economic entity of the Premier League.

"Being fully aware of the concern of undermining the top flight as an elite competition of the nation. But concurrently, if you engage with division representatives after this week's discussion, they would have had a significant degree of comfort -and, indeed, they have been telling us in private they have a significant confidence."

Partisan Associations

The chairman continues to confront a "comprehensive investigation" by the public appointments commissioner after he revealed he contributed money to the Labour Party in 2020.

The official donated money to Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Lisa Nandy's leadership campaign, along with that of the now Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.

"I've been completely open about my previous political affiliation [with Labour], and that ideological connection terminated the day the official body endorsed my nomination," the regulator explained.

"I currently have no participation in any type of partisan engagement."