NO more fighting, no more bickering please.
That is the answer. Canceling the contest is unfair to everyone involved.
Fraud renders an offer void. That is basic contracts at its most fundamental level.
You are right it is unfair but that is exactly what must be done. Turn your ire towards the liable parties who have ruined it for everyone else.
Remember that story about the king who cut his children's toy in half to render it unusable as they fought over it? That is what is going on here.
AS it stands, the orig offer must be voided.