Major Soccer League

The teetering Major Soccer League will remain in operation for at least this weekend. Commissioner Earl Foreman today said he will call a meeting of the league's board of directors on Monday to review the current crisis.Last night, MSL directors said they would cease operations today if the Major Soccer League Players Association did not accept an ultimatum for a new wage scale. Directors added that there was no room for negotiations.But Foreman said in today's statement that he will present the MSLPA's counter-proposal received last night.

The Major Soccer League, which has been inching toward expansion, may be about to grow by leaps and bounds.Last night Blast owner Ed Hale, speaking at the team's Fan Club Appreciation Dinner, finally made public a merger plan between the Major Soccer League and the National Professional Soccer League that has been in the works for more than three weeks.Hale, who is handling the negotiations for the MSL, said if the merger is going to happen, he would like it to be done by May 1."We've talked to them," Hale said.

Baltimore Blast owner Ed Hale said last week that he will propose scheduling changes in the Major Soccer League that would have the most far-reaching effects in the 13-year history of the league.Hale said his proposals will come Tuesday at the league meetings in Kansas City, Mo., and would result in "37 changes that will make the product less diluted and more action-packed."Hale would not be specific about the changes except to say they would "affect every aspect of league operations."Hale is chairman of the MSL player relations committee and a member of the league expansion committee.

The National Basketball Association, the Major Soccer League, the American Hockey League and most other sports organizations weighed their options and arrived at the same conclusion yesterday.Despite war in the Persian Gulf, the games should go on."We have been in touch with various officials in Washington, and, on the basis of their reaction and advice, feel the appropriate conduct . . . is to continue to play all games as scheduled," the NBA announced in a statement.The Major Soccer League said that players would wear patches of American flags on their uniforms, and, starting tonight, a moment of silence would be observed before all league games.

Baltimore Blast owner Ed Hale called nine-year veteran Toros Kibritjian "the worst referee in the league" yesterday, and said Kibritjian shouldn't be allowed to work any more Baltimore games."

NEW YORK -- Officials of the U.S. Soccer Federation are convinced that the formation of a truly professional outdoor league is imperative if the United States is to be successful in the 1994 World Cup.But there are strong indications that the resources for such a league are limited.Several owners from the Major Soccer League, which recently dropped the word indoor from its name, have expressed interest in the outdoor league the federation wants to put into effect in 1992, but Earl Foreman, the league's commissioner, has made it abundantly clear that his league "will not become an outdoor league."