Tournament rules and final games

Hello all, 

I'd like your opinion on something: It occured to me that the final 
games of tournaments need not adhere to the tournament rules. 

This is because rules are there not just to deal with game issues, 
but to confirm uniformity and comparability between different games 
of the various rounds of the tournament. In other words, if games a, 
b, c, etc are run in the same way, in as similar an environment as 
possible, one can actually claim that the players advancing to the 
final had a more or less equal shot at it. 

But in the final, you don't need to compare the game with other 
games. You don't need uniformity. You do need house rules, but those 
can be up to the GM and the players, just like in any stand alone 
game. And this can/may/should apply to both FTF and PBEM tournaments. 

Am I right in this? What do you guys think? 

Gregory

PS: Of course, if a tournament allows for a "free-form" final, 
that /should/ be stated in the rules.