NEW DELHI, Sept. 15 -- Poor administration has left Indian hockey on shaky ground ahead of the Asian Games in Japan, which begin on Saturday. There have been some promising showings lately, but the Hockey India League (HIL) is now staring at an existential crisis. With very little time left before the third edition - scheduled between late December and early February - and a pre-tournament mini-auction looming, franchises are pulling out. "Out of the eight teams, right now, only APL Pipers, Vedanta Kalinga Lancers and Hyderabad Toofans are on board for the HIL. The eighth team - HIL Governing Council team - was anyway a temporary outfit and cannot be a permanent solution," a Hockey India (HI) official told HT on condition of anonymity. The other four teams - JSW Soorma Hockey Club, Accord Tamil Nadu Dragons, Shrachi Bengal Tigers, and Ranchi Royals - have either told Hockey India (HI) they are not taking part (some on paper, some verbally) or are non-committal about participation. The situation is even more dire in the women's HIL where only APL Pipers have confirmed participation, with Ranchi Royals, Shrachi Bengal Tigers and JSW Soorma Hockey Club either being non-committal or informing the federation about their inability to participate. "At present, the women's league looks very difficult," said the official. The situation has arisen due to multiple factors, chiefly the financial viability of the league and its franchises. In some cases, some teams do not want to work with certain HI officials. "It requires a major push from all stakeholders to make the league happen. If things remain as is, we really may not have a league at all," another HI official admitted to HT. This exodus of teams is heavily compounded by a major administrative rift within HI, primarily between president Dilip Tirkey and secretary general Bhola Nath Singh. The internal power struggle has paralysed decision-making right before the federation's upcoming elections. Amidst this chaos, Tirkey on Saturday stripped HI director general RK Srivastava of his powers and on Monday introduced Ranjit Gill as the acting director general in a meeting with sports minister Mansukh Mandaviya. Interestingly, despite being relieved of his administrative control, Srivastava still attended the announcement of the Asian Champions Trophy in Mohali on Monday with Bhola Nath calling Tirkey's notice illegal as it was done without taking the Executive Board's (EB) approval. "The main problem is the elections. Until the elections take place, the rift between the two sides will continue and the sport will continue to suffer," said the HI official....