The AFC confirmed the news in a statement released on Wednesday 

“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,” read the statement.

“This is in breach of the AFC Champions League Regulation on ‘Eligible Teams’ which states that ‘the national team champion and champion club of the knockout competition for the football season declared by the Member Association and approved by the AFC Competitions Committee, and concluded in the year preceding the current competition, shall be eligible to participate in this competition’.

“Therefore, as the league and knockout competition are not concluded in 2007, the Indonesian clubs will not be eligible for the AFC Champions League 2008.”

The 2007 Indonesian league season kicked off in early February but was halted from May to August due to the country's co-hosting of the AFC Asian Cup.

Another month-long stoppage followed in September due to Ramadan and the national team's preparations for its World Cup 2010 qualifier against Syria in mid-October.

The fixture congestion that has resulted from the stoppages means that the league may not be decided until the end of January.

"When we were originally asked by the AFC whether we wanted to enter our teams in the AFC Champions League, we responded favourably but unfortunately, we have been unable to conclude our domestic competitions in time," said Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) general secretary Nugraha Besoes Nugraha to PA Sport.
 

"Our domestic competitions will only be finished in January so we will not be able to provide the AFC with the names of Indonesia's two representatives for the tournament in time for the group stage draw on December 17.

 "We proposed to AFC that our teams be included in the draw as Indonesia 1 and Indonesia 2 but the idea was not accepted."

 While the PSSI official viewed the exclusion of the Indonesian teams from the AFC Champions League as an unfortunate measure, he stressed that the association was not being sanctioned by the AFC. 

"This is not a punishment because our clubs are only being excluded from next year's tournament," he said.
 
"We have sent a representative to meet with the AFC competitions committee and discuss the matter to ensure that it does not happen again in future."

source: AFC