Although the Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC) insists no decision on the future of the Olympic Stadium will be taken until a board meeting on Friday,
A report analysing both the east London club's bid and that of north London Premier League rivals Tottenham was sent to members of the OLPC board on Wednesday morning.
OPLC chairman Baroness Ford, who seems increasingly bemused with every twist and turn of this acrimonious process.
Just to recap, here are the five key criteria the OPLC is using to make its decision:
1. Achieve a long-term viable solution for the stadium that is deliverable and provides value for money;2. To secure a partner with the capability to deliver and operate a legacy solution for a venue of the stadium's size and complexity;
3. To reopen the stadium as soon as possible after the Games;
4. To ensure that the stadium remains a distinctive physical symbol supporting the economic, physical and social regeneration of the area;
5. To allow flexible use of the stadium, accommodating a vibrant programme of events allowing year-round access for schools, the local community, wider public and elite sport
My understanding is that OPLC chief executive Andrew Altman makes no clear recommendation in favour of West Ham's bid in the report but it is true that the club's £95m proposal is the only one to meet all five criteria.
Spurs, on the other hand, fail on two counts: timing; and the flexible and community use of the stadium.Taking the last point first. The north Londoners once the Games are over and convert the stadium to a football-only venue. They may be promising to fund other sporting projects elsewhere in the capital but West Ham and use the stadium as a genuine multi-sport arena ticked the box.
On the issue of timing, Tottenham's plans to take down the Olympic Stadium and build a brand new ground with stands closer to the pitch will obviously take longer to fulfil. They originally promised to open the new ground by 2016-2017 but had said, in recent days, that they could complete the work faster. Still, that would have been at least a year after have been ready. With the OPLC worried about getting a return from the venue as soon as possible, that gave the Hammers the edge.
Spurs may have more money and a more secure future in the Premier League but the fact their project would cost three times as much as West Ham's may have counted against them, too.
So what happens now?
Treasury officials are understood to be taking one last look at the numbers on Thursday to make sure they all stack up. The 14 members of the OPLC board will then meet on Friday morning. I am told there will be a "lengthy and robust" debate and that Spurs could still emerge as winners. That is extremely unlikely to happen
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