Nandy announced Mr Kogan, a sports rights executive, as the government’s preferred candidate to chair the football regulator in April.
But she stepped back from the appointment process the following month, after he revealed to MPs that he had given “very small sums” to her 2020 Labour leadership campaign, as well as that of the now prime minister.
In a report published on Thursday, external, the commissioner for public appointments, Sir William Shawcross, revealed Mr Kogan had made two donations of £1,450 each to Nandy’s campaign, one personally and one through his company.
They were part of total donations worth £33,410 to Labour and the party’s candidates in the five years prior to his appointment, the commissioner said.
The two donations to Nandy’s campaign were below declaration thresholds set by the Electoral Commission and by Parliament.
But Nandy should have checked if the sports agent had contributed before endorsing him, Sir William said, and taken “any necessary consequential action”.
“The fact of the donations was capable of giving rise to a perceived conflict of interest in the appointment process,” he added.
Nandy apologised on Thursday, telling the prime minister in a letter: “I deeply regret this error. I appreciate the perception it could create”.
Sir Keir has stood by his culture secretary, telling her in reply that she had “acted in good faith”, and he “noted the commissioner’s findings that the error was unknowing”.
