BUENOS AIRES Argentina's professional soccer players decided to start an indefinite strike on Monday because they claim the clubs owe them millions in unpaid wages and bonuses.

The players, who blame bad administration for the crisis, say the clubs in the three divisions of the professional league are more than $100 million in debt to them.

"This has not happened overnight... This goes back a long way," said Sergio Marchi, president of the Argentina Players Union (FAA) after a three-hour meeting attended by the captains of all the professional teams.

"There's only one culprit here and that is the management of Argentine football, who run things badly and think the party is never going to be over," he said. "But the party has ended."

Argentina's Labor Minister Patricia Bullrich tried to find a last-minute solution earlier on Monday when she met with Argentina Football Association (AFA) President Julio Grondona.

However, the meeting ended without a solution to the crisis, Reuters reported.

"We offered to pay them 25 percent of the debt but it appears the players were not satisfied... We have to offer them something better," she said.

The decision is a blow to morale as the national team is enjoying a rich vein of form.

Argentina leads the South American World Cup qualifying competition by six points and are virtually assured of their place in Japan and South Korea next year.

But trouble has been brewing in domestic football all year.

The problem has even hit Boca Juniors, the club's most fanatically supported club, who last year won the Argentine, South American and intercontinental championships.

Boca's players say they are still owed prize money from last year's win over European champions Real Madrid in the Intercontinental Cup.

Last week, midfielder Mauricio Serna said he wanted the club to sell top player Juan Roman Riquelme so the transfer money could be used to pay the rest of the squad.

Marchi said the strike would not immediately effect the Argentine teams in the South American Libertadores Cup, which continues this week.

But he said it would spread if solutions were not found and could even hit the national team eventually. "The debate has been intelligent and we have to take intelligent measures to find solutions and not more problems," he said.