This was what soccer purists around the world feared the most, the day Americans messed with their sacred sport.

But Major League Soccer's announcement on Thursday that it might use bigger goals when its inaugural season starts in April was not its idea. The proposal originated at Zurich-based Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), soccer's powerful world governing body, which is examining ways to increase scoring.

"Last November, FIFA requested MLS to consider experimenting playing with larger goals," MLS Commissioner Doug Logan said. ". . . All sports involve some risk. I'm not going to tell you it's an issue that is risk-free. Our elders think the rewards in comparison to the risks . . . are sufficient enough for us to investigate it further and to take on those risks."

Under FIFA's proposal, the goal would expand in height by about nine inches and in width by about 17 inches. The current dimensions are eight feet high and 24 feet wide.

Sources said MLS's Management Committee voted, 6-3, to pursue the issue. League executives will attend FIFA meetings March 8 in Rio de Janeiro to discuss it further. If FIFA's board authorizes the change in goal size, MLS likely will implement it in time for the April 6 opener.

Kevin Payne, D.C. United's president and general manager and a member of the management committee, voted against the proposal. "I'm in favor of the concept of larger goals and the concept of finding ways to make the game exciting, but not in the first year," he said. "To me it's a question of us being in front of the rest of the world" and a fear of the young league losing international credibility.

Larger goals were tried in recent years by the United Systems of Independent Soccer Leagues -- a U.S. semipro circuit -- and produced almost an additional goal per game. Shootout Tiebreaker

As the goal-size debate continues, MLS already has approved a new rule -- the use of a shootout to break ties after regulation. Unlike the penalty-kick tiebreaker used in the World Cup and other international tournaments, MLS will have a player go one-on-one with the opposing goalkeeper, similar to hockey's penalty shot. The player will start 35 yards from the net and have five seconds to shoot. Each team will alternate five shooters. If the game is still tied after five rounds, each side will shoot once until a winner is determined. This tiebreaking system was used by the North American Soccer League . . .

MLS's standings point system will work this way: three points for an outright victory, one point for a shootout victory and no points for a regulation or shootout loss. . . . The league likely will assign a fifth high-profile player to each team. That has come about because more U.S. national team players and some foreign players have expressed interest in recent weeks in signing with the league. Among the likely additions are Americans Cobi Jones, Paul Caligiuri, Ernie Stewart and Steve Pittman.