He was cleared to practice but not to compete. Not contradictory, that just means most Utah fans that followed Utah football practices knew that the appealing process was coming along just fine.
Also, if you read the whole thing, his biggest upside to going to Utah route was 4 actual years of eligibility, eligibility to practice with the team WHILE the appealing process was going through and immediate financial aid.
BYU was asking him to wait 2-years, then come back and pay his way one year through school WITHOUT practicing and giving up 1 year.
Regal Ute did a great job explaining it all