Donaghadee Football Club have been ordered to pay the full costs of arbitration after losing out in their bid to have the decision to curtail the 2019-20 Northern Amateur Football League season overturned.
An independent arbitration firm found in favour of the Irish FA in the case.
Division 2A club Donaghadee have also been ordered to pay the IFA's legal costs.
Like many sports the Amateur League was forced into lockdown back in March following the onset of Covid-19.
The League Management Committee later decided that no more games in the 2019/20 season would be played after May 31. That followed a vote involving clubs where a majority voted in favour of accepting that the season could not be finished.
Donaghadee appealed against the NAFL's decision and then sought arbitration on the matter.
Independent arbitration firm Sport Resolutions said in its report that there was "no error of law" in the July 15, 2020 decision of the Appeals Board.
The report also stated that "despite DFC’s numerous objections, it was given a fair hearing and the decision was correct in law."
Donaghadee issued a statement following the arbitration ruling.
In it the club said it was disappointed with the "ultimate finding of this case", adding that it was "difficult not to come away with a grave sense of injustice".
The Northern Amateur Football League is affiliated to the Irish FA, so the NAFL and its member clubs are bound by the rules and regulations of the IFA.
The full arbitration report can be read HERE
