JAKARTA - INDONESIAN teams have been barred from the 2008 AFC Champions League, dealing another blow to a sport in crisis in the world's fourth most populous country.

The Asian Football Confederation cited the late completion of Indonesia's domestic league and cup competitions as the reason, with the slots instead going to Thai Premier League runners-up Krung Thai Bank and Vietnam Cup holders Nam Dinh.

'The AFC Competitions Committee has confirmed that Indonesian clubs shall not be included in the AFC Champions League 2008 as both the Indonesia League and national knockout competition do not finish before January 2008,' the AFC said.

The Indonesian league season kicked off in February but was halted from May to August for the Asian Cup, and again in September for Ramadan, making for a backlog of matches.

The Indonesia Football Association (PSSI) said it had accepted the decision.

'We have accepted the decision as it is not a punishment,' secretary general Nugroho Besoes told AFP.

Mr Besoes said that Indonesia had sent a team to negotiate with AFC management in Kuala Lumpur but to no avail.

'They said they cannot postpone it for the sake of other countries,' he said.

It is not the first time that Indonesian clubs have fallen afoul of the AFC.

In 2006, Arema Malang and Persipura Jayapura were thrown out of the competition for failing to fill in their paperwork on time.

The latest expulsion deals another blow to the sport in Indonesia.

After making progress at the Asian Cup this year, the Indonesian national team failed to make the third round of qualifying for the 2010 World Cup, with their campaign culminating in an embarrassing 7-0 defeat to Syria.

They also slumped out of the ongoing South-east Asian Games at the group stage.

Their hierarchy is also in disarray with the disgraced head of the Indonesia Football Association, Nurdin Halid, currently in jail after being convicted of graft earlier this year.

He has refused to step down, despite pressure from Fifa. -- AFP