Chester Chairman Andy Morris has said that National North clubs didn't ask for 'elite' status and he implied that if the FA allowed that term to be dropped it might help.
"We never asked to be made 'elite'," he said.
"Clubs at our level when we looked at the play-offs we got involved in this 'elite' discussion.
"Now the definition is set by the FA.
"It's not something we've requested, we've been told we're 'elite'.
"And that's caused us more difficulties than benefits at the moment."
Morris said it was uncertainty and mixed messages that was making life difficult at the moment.
"From our prospective there is no point going ahead without fans.
"We've been very conservative in our business model, we were looking at vastly reduced attendances but going ahead without any spectators is half of our income gone in one stroke.
"Season tickets holders have bought season tickets in good faith. We've really explored the option of online streaming. But there is a difference between that at maybe £5 per stream as opposed to an average spend of £10 to £15 on the day.
"As chairman we have a legal and moral responsibilty to run businesses in a sensible fashion."