The club's punishment has been upheld by an independent arbitration tribunal, which ruled that the Football League was justified in imposing the penalty following United's spell in administration last summer.

Leeds were deducted 15 points after leaving administration in July without a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) agreed by their creditors, a move which the Football League claimed was contrary to their rules on insolvency.

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United denied breaking Football League regulations and agreed to enter independent arbitration after serving a High Court writ on the organisation, but a three-man panel upheld the deduction in a ruling published at 5pm this evening.

The 15-point penalty will now stand, leaving Leeds to fight for promotion to the Championship via the play-offs.

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The return of their points would have lifted the club to second position in the League One table but the division will remain unaltered following today's decision.

The tribunal panel criticised the length of time take by Leeds to begin independent arbitration, which has finally been completed 48 hours before the end of the regular season, and also raised the issue of the waiver signed by United in August in which the club agreed not to appeal against the 15-point deduction.

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United chairman Ken Bates, who called on Football League chairman Lord Brian Mawhinney and his board to consider their positions, said: "They have rejected our appeal, and the decision of the tribunal is that we won't get our points back. Therefore we're in the play-offs

"In many ways, I think we've had overall a moral victory because some of the points the tribunal made are, I think, unfair and unjust towards Leeds. But we'll live with that and get on with our lives."

On the subject of the delay over arbitration, Bates said: "That's unfair because we started trying to overturn that decision from August 30.

"The FA dragged their feet and took a long time to deal with any point we raised. Then we appealed against the original decision and they said there was no case to answer.

"So we issued a writ against the Football League and they said they were going to get a stay of execution in the High Court because it should go to arbitration under rule K of the FA.

"I said 'we've been asking for that for six months. Why's it taken the threat of legal action in court to bring it?' I think they thought we were just going to go away.

"Secondly, they (the tribunal) said we had under duress signed an undertaking not to challenge the decision, and we thought by (the Football League) later proposing that we should go to arbitration that they had waived that clause.

"If they said 'you don't have any right to appeal' why did they then propose we have an appeal under the rules of the FA. That seems like a dog's breakfast.

"It's significant that the tribunal also criticised the Football League's procedures. They basically said it's wrong that a dispute with a football club should be decided by their fellow clubs, because there's self-interest.

"That's obvious to everyone but the Football League board, headed by Lord Mawhinney.

"(The tribunal) have recommended that clubs should have the right to appeal, and they should not ban you from appealing as part of any condition being imposed."

The 15-point penalty was originally imposed after the collapse of a CVA proposed by Bates while Leeds were in administration last July.

The CVA was collapsed following a legal challenge made against it by HM Revenue and Customs, and United were later sold directly to Bates' consortium through an administrators sale by KPMG.

The Football League's rules require insolvent clubs to agree a CVA with their creditors before regaining their membership in the League.

Bates said: "They (the tribunal) also acknowledged that the CVA which caused all this trouble couldn't be exited in the normal way because of the Inland Revenue. So basically we have been penalised by the Football League for adhering to their policy of paying all football creditors.

"On reflection the whole board and particularly Lord Mawhinney should consider their positions, and perhaps resign, because the way they've handled this matter has been totally disgraceful."

Football League chairman Lord Mawhinney welcomed the decision to uphold the 15 point deduction, saying: "On behalf of the board and the League, I welcome the panel's findings in their entirety.

"It has found that the actions we took were reasonable and appropriate in these unprecedented circumstances and that we had the power to act as we did.

"Now I believe we should draw a line under the whole process.

"Leeds United are a valued member of the Football League family. We should all now get back to the business of football and enjoy the climax to what has already been an exciting season."

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