'We will play a key role in football's future' - newly appointed regulator David Kogan
The Championship club's current difficulties are seen as a "major concern" and the new football authority is seeking powers to examine team situations in such situations, its new chair the official has announced.
Through a comprehensive talk, the chairman, who was named to the position this week, expressed "sympathy" towards supporters of the Owls.
The chairman convened with four supporter groups associated with the football team recently.
The Championship side have been facing challenges both on and off the pitch in this season, with the club missing wage payments on multiple instances, including in the autumn.
"Obviously the club has become a major concern for the league and a significant problem for football," Kogan told.
"Wednesday stands as one of the historic institutions for the English game and recently we have met supporters' organizations.
"We're now looking to get powers... which will enable us to take Wednesday and comparable cases referred to us if they warrant scrutiny and acted upon."
Economic Challenges and Proprietorship Status
The team's struggling chairman the Thai businessman indicated in the summer he would be open to selling the club at their home ground, but he has failed to complete a sale with potential new owners.
Failure to pay player wages on time in March and May caused limitations by the league officials in June, preventing the club from carrying out any transfers or loans for the subsequent signing windows, although the ban was rescinded in August.
Official's Viewpoint
Kogan said: "The job [of the regulator] is there for the Owls followers, other clubs in similar situations where supporters are loyal to a local institution that has represented their community in numerous instances.
"I have absolute sympathy for the club's situation, as I do for all the clubs that since 1992 have gone to the wall, or approached financial ruin, for reasons that have nothing to do with the followers."
Questioned about whether the oversight body could require an proprietor to divest a club if they are judged inappropriate, the chairman responded: "When asking whether 'would we intervene in the final instance?', the answer is once we gather the evidence and know what's going on, we will."
But the regulator clarified that compelling proprietors to divest 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 individual club, an individual owner, without having the opportunity to collaborate with that proprietor to address the issues that the club's facing and the proprietor's dealing with," the chairman stated.
"In actuality, when you look back over the history of the game, over the last 20 or 30 years there have been particular chairmen, a small minority, but particular people who have shown negligence in the way which they've been managing their clubs and ultimately don't wish to take responsibility for the long-term prospects."
Owls fans have been demonstrating against the team's chairman in recent months
'If we get it wrong, extraordinary progress vanishes'
The regulator engaged representatives from 110 clubs to detail the scope of the oversight body this week and stated it constituted a "progressive gathering" with a "substantial involvement" from the grassroots to elite level.
"It's a job that's actually really important, because if we get it wrong, if the world of football gets it wrong, the extraordinary progress that's been made might evaporate incredibly quickly," the chairman stated.
"And that's what nobody wants in the context of the English game is a substantial accomplishment - we need to continue the progress.
"Substantial financial resources coming into football and has been invested for the past two decades, because there's no guarantee it will persist in entering the game, which is part of the rationale behind I think we have to adopt a precise perspective on potential dangers and naturally, of the coming seasons."
Premier League Concerns
The Premier League opposed the formation of an authority because of concerns about detrimental effects on the elite division's competitive balance, but Kogan said: "I fully support the prosperity and expansion as an economic entity of the Premier League.
"I of all people understand the concern of undermining the division as a high-quality offering of the nation. But concurrently, if you engage with division representatives after today's meeting, they would have had a substantial amount of confidence -and, indeed, they have been informing us confidentially they have a significant confidence."
Partisan Associations
Kogan is still facing a "full inquiry" by the Commissioner for Public Appointments after he disclosed making donations to the opposition group in the past.
The official provided financial support for Culture Secretary the politician's campaign, along with that of the current Prime Minister.
"I've been completely open about my former ideological connection [with Labour], and that political affiliation came to an end the day the parliamentary committee confirmed my selection," the regulator explained.
"I am presently disconnected from any form of political activity."
