The G-14 has agreed to disband in a deal with FIFA that will see clubs receive compensation for players taking part in international duty. The details are extremely vague at this point, and the deal seems to be limited to a "letter of intent," but at least until more information emerges this looks like a colossal victory for Blatter and Platini against the power of the big European clubs. The threat of a breakaway superleague appears to have expired, gently, in its sleep, and the lawsuits that the G-14 had arrayed around FIFA will pack up their things and go home. The deal will result in the creation of a European Clubs Association (a spinoff of the UEFA forum that Platini used to weaken the G-14 last year) that will include many more clubs and be more cooperative with UEFA.
The new arrangement also looks like a big win for Chelsea's Peter Kenyon, who's effectively used Chelsea's position outside the G-14 to increase his own influence by rallying the smaller clubs that the G-14 left out.
Whatever the case, it's tough to take any information from any of these sources at face value (cf. Joan Laporta: "Friendship and confidence is the basis for our game…. It is a victory for all.") So what are the angles that aren't being reported at the moment? What's in it for the G-14, really? What's the sinister spin?
UPDATE: The sinister spin at Pitch Invasion; and at 200percent.
I've some thoughts on it on Pitch Invasion, and I might edit it to address the point you make about the Superleague idea dying.
The fact is, though, that I never saw that as a serious prospect. The G-14 has just been using the fear of it as a tool to pry more out of Uefa over the years, most of which they've got. The G-14 would have to be either barking mad or far smarter than they really are to pull off a breakaway: who walks away from the billions in television contracts they're guaranteed already from their national leagues and Champions league?
Someone would only do so if they had an offer of even more money on the table, but there's no real demand for it from anyone, is there?
[...] Brian at the Run of Play also seems to concur, saying that "this looks like a colossal victory for Blatter and Platini against the power of the big European clubs. The threat of a breakaway superleague appears to have expired, gently, in its sleep, and the lawsuits that the G-14 had arrayed around FIFA will pack up their things and go home." [...]
Great post, Tom. I've updated mine to include a link. I agree completely that the most sinister aspect of all of this is that neither the clubs nor the ruling bodies will ever let us know what's really happened. Lordly press releases will float down from a snowy mountain castle above Zurich and that will be all they ever tell us.
Ian at 200percent is arguing that the G-14 is essentially just regrouping after having been outflanked by Platini and Chelsea in the latest round of sparring. I'm sure that's true to some extent, but I also agree with your point that the big clubs have already gotten so much of what they wanted out of UEFA that they no longer need the bluff of separation that it was largely the G-14's purpose to represent.