With the ACL struggling to capture the attention in a number of countries, mainly Korea and Australia, it is timely to take a look at the composition of the ACL and ask - do we need more variety?

It's fair to say of the four main East Asian nations (Japan, Korea, China and Australia), only China has really embraced the ACL if we use the crowd figures as an indication. Japan is getting better, whilst Australia and Korea both really struggle.

Given the strict guidelines put in place by the AFC, only two spots are set aside for the South East Asian nations - one direct qualification for an Indonesian side and one for another side via the play-offs.

This year, after Vietnam was disqualified for the non-submission of their documents, their play-off spot was bizarrely handed to Qatar. Qatar's Al-Ain would subsequently go on to win the East Asian playoff, meaning just one SE Asian nation will take the field in the ACL this year - Indonesia's Arema, who qualified directly courtesy of winning the 2009/10 Indonesia Super League.

And in recent times we've seen worrying comments from the AFC's Director of Competitions, Tokuaki Suzuki, that one of SE Asia's biggest nations, Thailand, now faces expulsion because they fail to meet minimum requirements for stadia, media facilities and operations and youth development.

"If the clubs cannot improve their facility and programme to meet the criteria, they will not be able to play in the AFC Champions League from 2012-2014," Suzuki told the press recently.

In my opinion, the ACL needs more SE Asian sides, not less.

What they offer is something different, both on and off the park, and a much needed diversity to a side of the draw that has a lot of sameness about it.

Save for the two groups with one spot allocated for a SE Asian side, each group contains one team from Japan, Korea, China and Australia - its all very predictable.

The beauty of a Champions League is being able to experience different cultures, different styles of Football and being exposed to different playing environments. SE Asia offers that in spades.

The professionalism in SE Asia is rising too, as witnessed in the Thai Premier League for example. In 2009 all clubs were forced to register as public limited companies and required to engage more strongly with their local communities.

Gone are names like Tobacco Monopoly and Krung Thai Bank, replaced by names like Bangkok Glass and Buriram PEA.

It is working too, with crowds turning out in strong numbers to support their now local sides.

Muang Thong United, regarded as the most professional club in Thailand, have made significant strides in recent years, undertaking a significant redevelopment of their home ground (Yamaha Stadium) and now boast an impressive band of loyal supporters.

They would offer plenty to the AFC Champions League, and you'd be guaranteed the game would be played in front of a packed and vocal home crowd, not something you can say about many ACL games at the moment.

In fact Muang Thong have a higher average in their two AFC Cup games than Sydney FC does from it's three home games in the ACL.

There will be some who point to a gulf in playing standard as a reason to restrict SE Asian sides, however as we've seen in recent times the gulf between the A-League and J. League is just as large and seems to be growing bigger each year.

Should we then restrict the number of A-League teams who take part?

Gulfs in standard are par for the course though. Take a look at Europe and look at the gulf between Barcelona and CFR Cluj of Romania.

Nathan Hall, a young Australian coach who most recently worked with Thai Port FC, is on record as saying that the Thai Premier League is of a higher technical standard than the A-League.

A-League sides have little experience against Thai opponents, with only Melbourne Victory going head-to-head with Thai outfit Chonburi in 2008.

In their two encounters, the honours were split one win apiece, with Chonburi causing what was considered a big upset when they defeated Melbourne 3-1 in Bangkok.

The AFC is to be commended for their efforts in trying to raise the professionalism of Asian Football across the board, it was needed and it is undoubtedly having an effect.

But by strictly enforcing their rigid criteria they risk turning the ACL into a competition that could quickly become stale in the eyes of many.

Variety is the spice of life, and the ACL could definitely do with some extra spice.

Check out Paul's Asian Football Feast blog for regular updates, interviews and features from the world of Asian football.