WHANGAREI football fans can rest easy after United Soccer 1 rejected appeals by three clubs to leave the US1 premier league and join the Northern premier league.
East Coast Bays, Glenfield Rovers and Waitakere City - who all play in the same league as Whangarei's North Force - presented their written
arguments to the US1 Board on Thursday.
The threat of disruption to the new league, in which North Force started so brightly last weekend, now seems to have been subdued - at least for now.
US1 chief executive Keith Johnston said the submissions were all reviewed by the board, who then voted unanimously to uphold their original decision.
"We sincerely hope that this brings this issue to a close and the federation's focus can now return to running its own premier league," he said.
Johnston said the board also voted to renew discussions with other federations with a view to establishing inter-federation competition for the top clubs at the end of the season.
If North Force can earn a top-two place in this year's league, there is a possibility of going on to play the top performing clubs in other regions - or so the US1 board hopes.
"We've always wanted inter-federation activity, to reward our best performed clubs but it is the structure that has always been the issue," he said.
The matter seems to have run its course but there is still the possibility the clubs will push their protest further and take the matter to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
