The Premiership pantomime finally brings down the curtain on Sunday afternoon.

At the top, everything is done and dusted. Manchester United are champions again; Chelsea are licking their wounds after the embarrassment of forming a guard of honour for their bitter rivals at Stamford Bridge in midweek.

They are busy plotting revenge for next Saturday's rematch at Wembley's first FA Cup final since the face-lift.

So all attention for the last 90 minutes of league action is focused on the frantic scramble to stay up. Three clubs are fighting desperately to avoid the one remaining ticket bound for Championship oblivion.

Two of those play each other as Sheffield United and Wigan square off at a frenzied Bramall Lane. West Ham, seen by all as the villains of the piece, are an interesting sideshow at the Old Trafford title presentation.

The added spice is provided by the ongoing legal shenanigans concerning the Hammers and the ramifications of their transfer dealings for the two Argentinians.

Should West Ham survive - and the odds are in their favour - then expect all hell to be let loose. It won't just be Wigan, currently in that third relegation spot three points adrift, whinging about supposed preferential treatment from the Premier League.

Don't anticipate the storm dying down just because the season is over. Those other clubs less directly affected than the Latics have promised their full backing in any legal protest.

Feelings are still running dangerously high at what their rivals see as West Ham wriggling off the hook for clear transfer misdemeanours. The suggestion of double standards by the authorities persists.

Bury were booted out of the FA Cup in December for fielding an ineligible player. They admitted a genuine mistake and suffered heavily for it.

West Ham, on the other hand, blatantly knew what they were doing. Their punishment? A big fine maybe but, crucially, no docking of points.

Even the Dog & Duck would lose points in the local Sunday League if they broke the laws like that.

The Premier League's inaction sets a highly dangerous precedent. What's to stop a team in future deliberately picking a suspended player or two, knowing the only place they will suffer is in the wallet?

They know it's cheating - but what is the deterrent?

Set against the extra £30m Premiership clubs will rake in from next season's TV bonanza, what's the odd £5m fine here or there? Especially if the all-important points tally does not suffer.

This furore will only die down if West Ham are relegated. That could spare the Premier League a drawn-out and potentially hugely embarrassing court battle through the summer.

So you can guess that the league bigwigs will be keeping their fingers crossed that the final results fall the right way.

And imagine the scenario if West Ham are two or three adrift at United with time running out while Wigan are beating the Blades, whose superior goal difference to the Londoners would be enough anyway.

Wouldn't it serve the Hammers right if their two survival rivals got their heads together in the closing minutes and played out a tame "after you, Claude" finale in the manner of West Germany and Austria all those years ago?

And would the Premier League dare cry foul about any such contrived result?

Given the hole they have put themselves in, I suggest they should stop digging - and cheer on Man United all the way.

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