angryrat, yes, that's simply what QF is telling us. It could be an outright porky pie, or just deliberately misleading and omitting a few slightly relevant facts, eg, it may well be that QF imposed a late condition unacceptable to EK, so EK indeed decided to "no longer accept pilots on a LWOP basis."
Scuttlebutt tonight already is that QF announced the arrangement prematurely before EK was happy with it, so EK subsequently said "Deal's off". THAT is to be verified...... But yes, smelling like QF stuff up leading to EK decision. So typical of QF to try to paint the other party as the culprit though!
I've thought long and hard as to whether it was some sort of industrial game being played against the LH pilots, but I can't see how. I think it's just sheer incompetence on some department's part, likely QF Flight Ops.
At the end of the day, guys can still apply to EK for whatever reasons they want (better promotion prospects, some certainty of employment continuity, a love of desert scenery). ALL that is changed over the weekend is that it's back the way it was: if selected, they will have to produce a letter of resignation from QF.