Tonga's National Rugby League is filing an appeal with the International Court of Arbitration for Sport in a final bid to remain the governing body for the sport in the kingdom.
A decision to expel the TNRL from the International Rugby League, IRL, was confirmed by a membership vote this month.
The situation comes after a long-standing and high profile battle over governance which has involved star players as well.
TNRL Secretary William Edwards said despite the negative outcome there was a sense of relief knowing their case would be heard in the Court of Arbitration after exhausting every avenue underneath the IRL.
"I was disappointed. I was very disappointed because you wouldn't believe the amount of lies and the only way to tell you this is that it's going to come out in the Court of Arbitration," he said.
Edwards claimed the IRL continued to "go against their own rules."
"They expelled us on a governance restructure which is not under the rules and which was never requested by another member," he said.
"Their answer to that was 'it says that we can make any rules that we want because it says that we must do anything for the good of rugby league'.
"The fundamental premise of any constitution around the world is that you must be charged for an offence and you cannot be punished for anything that is not an offence and that offence must be expressly stated in law.
Edwards was forced to miss the Special General Meeting, where full members voted on the expulsion, because of flight restrictions due to the Covid-19 pandemic. However he said papers to appeal the decision were already being processed by the TNRL's lawyers.
Tired and frustrated with the continuous "he-said-she-said debate," Edwards said it was time for them to be heard independently.
"We're going to an independent body that's going to write a detailed ruling based on the evidence before them and we believe that that evidence will expose them to making up lies."
"Basically, the decisions have just been decided by them at board level. We don't have a representative there, we've asked for mediation and they denied our right to mediation," Edwards said.
"Everything's gone a bit haywire, but you know we'll get there. It's just the uncertainty of not knowing what's going to happen for the next few months that's the frightening thing."