WASHINGTON -- The District of Columbia will be one of 12 charter cities in the Major League Soccer that will make its debut next April.

RFK Stadium was one of seven venues awarded MLS franchises yesterday for the first full professional soccer league in the United States since the North American Soccer League folded after its 1984 season.

"The feeling of soccer permeates our city," said Jeanette Hoston Harris, the D.C. government's soccer coordinator.

At a news conference in Chicago, it was announced that six other venues were awarded teams: Foxboro (Mass.) Stadium, Hofstra Stadium in Uniondale, N.Y., Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., the Los Angeles Coliseum, Ohio Stadium in Columbus, and Spartan Stadium in San Jose, Calif.

Five more teams will be added later.