I would object to a new team coming in this late.

Umm, the LADLE is supposed to happen in a few months or so, joda, why don't you just hang on until then?
As far as fe playing the knockout round, I think if they failed to organize any seed rounds then they probably should just wait for the next tournament. The knockout round can be seriously held up by a team failing to organize enough to schedule a match, and forfeits aren't going to be pretty.