No, the players didn't believe that the decision was final. Vitalik wants a replay or a draw. Alex wants a technical win because he's leaving. They couldn't even agree on a draw...
How long should we wait? People can't play for a month. So, who was stopping you from playing? AK? Should I post miles of logs of my conversations with BOTH players? According to the logs, Vitalik should be the one getting the technical win.

Sorry, Pete, but you're also wrong here. If one of the players doesn't want to play, it's unpleasant to play (for various reasons) - he won't play, even if you give him a month or a year for the game. If his opponent wants to play, then it's not you who will bother him, but he will bother you, saying that the opponent is avoiding the game.
But if both opponents don't want to play, you won't achieve anything.

You just needed to give both opponents a technical defeat at the end of the round, as a matter of course.
Firstly, you won't waste your nerves and energy, and believe me, they are not unlimited.
Secondly, you won't bother the players unnecessarily; they also have nerves, because it's obvious that the rules have been violated - there's no reason to understand the fuss on the forum.

Alex R, Vigo, and Vitalik are well-known players, but in the tournament, they are equal to the others, and the rules are written for them too. In fact, you did everything right, respect, but one phrase about the rules would have been enough.
The player needs to show initiative during the round, not after.

Friends, we are slowly sinking into a swamp of squabbles and petty grievances; they are not worth it. We have a forum where you can chat, we have a fairly friendly Community of players, where you can always find an opponent for your favorite game... what else do we need?