Prize Splits and Player Rights?

I'm trying to keep this vague but clear enough; forgive any ambiguity. I'm not trying to get anyone in trouble, but this has left a bad taste in my mouth, and I'd like to know how this sort of thing ought to go.

I played not too long ago in a tournament with top-heavy cardboard prize support. (T8/T4/T2/Winner were about a 1:3:5:50 ratio) At many win-a-dual or win-a-mox type events like this in the past, I've seen the TO offer a cash alternative and facilitate potential splitting among T8/T4/T2 accordingly.

At this event, there was no cash alternative, as the organization didn't want to keep the prize (which is fine). But beyond that, the TO did not allow players to arrange their own split, and instructed the judge to forbid this discussion (I'm not sure how that actually played out). The reason provided for this was that the TO personally preferred playing it out. It was also clear that the TO preferred the high-stakes drama of a single huge winner, rather than a split.

Splitting obviously would have been messy, as some one would have to be trusted to sell the prize and distribute cash. (And, I'm not sure everyone would necessarily have been interested.) Most T8 players seemed inclined to split (and at least half said so) until the head judge gave a standard reminder against bribery and "if you want to arrange a split, talk to me," to which the TO replied "there will be no splits," which got awkward but was not contradicted

So the question: Do players in a T8 have a right to arrange their own split if the TO does not facilitate (and actively prevents it)? Can that be the TO's decision? It seems like a huge conflict of interests to supersede player decisions about this sort of thing for the sake of the store's reputation and/or TO's personal preference.

Forgive me if you're already familiar with the rules for prize splitting, but here they are in the MTR:

https://blogs.magicjudges.org/rules/mtr5-2/

Unequal prize splits anywhere but the final single elimination round require that the matches be played out to their natural conclusion and prizes be awarded based on final standing. Only if the prize pool is evenly divisible (cash or packs) can the T8 or T4 agree to split and then not play the matches out. When singles are involved as in your example, the prize pool is inherently not evenly divisible.

The TO cannot stop you from agreeing to attempt to split the value of the prizes after the event, but you must play the event out to at least the T2 and the prizes will be awarded to the appropriate people based on standing. You are responsible for dividing prizes afterwards and the TO is not and should not be involved in it.