Sonstiges » " Schmidt said Wednesday in his garage. "

LONDON -- The English Premier League is exploring whether fans should be allowed to stand at games again, more than 20 years after stadiums were ordered to be all-seated.It would require a change to the law banning standing areas after the 1989 Hillsborough disaster where 96 Liverpool fans were crushed to death in an overcrowded section of the stadium in Sheffield at a FA Cup semifinal.So-called safe-standing has been introduced in Scotland where seats can be flipped up and locked in place, providing space to stand behind a waist-high rail.The Premier League administration is receptive to calls for the standing areas and was asked by its clubs at a meeting on Thursday to look into the feasibility and safety of adopting the rail seats.This is a complex and emotive topic with a number of issues, varying from club to club, which need to be considered carefully before clubs can decide if they wish to pursue any changes, including legislative, that are required to allow them the option of safe standing areas in their grounds, the league said in a statement.The clubs have tasked the Premier League with scoping out the safety, supporter, technical and legislative? issues surrounding safe standing before any further discussions, based on the facts, can take place.Although 27 years have passed since Hillsborough, the ongoing legal battles by the families of the dead fans over the cause of Britains worst sports disaster has slowed the campaign for standing areas. A jury ruled this year that the victims were unlawfully killed and police and emergency services were to blame.Liverpool chief executive Ian Ayre declined to comment as he left the London meeting where standing was discussed. West Ham co-owner David Gold acknowledged it was a difficult subject and said there was so much to be done.English Football Association chairman Greg Clarke believes the atmosphere at games would be enhanced if fans could stand.The chances of falling over are much less if there is a rail in front of you, Clarke said. With the issues of Hillsborough they will want to ensure that its going to be safe and well-policed.If football works together on this then we could get a result and the fans would love it.UEFA insists on all-seat stadiums for European games, so any change to the law in England would only allow fans to stand during domestic fixtures.In Germany, there are standing sections, notably at Borussia Dortmund behind a goal where some of the loudest fans are.In France, the national supporters group is lobbying for the return of standing tribunes, arguing that they would improve safety and create a more festive atmosphere. But there is little appetite to relax stadium regulations which were toughened after the Furiani disaster in Corsica in 1992 when one of the terraces collapsed, killing 18 people.---AP Sports Writers Samuel Petrequin in Paris and Nesha Starcevic in Frankfurt, Germany contributed to this report.Rob Harris is at www.twitter.com/RobHarris and www.facebook.com/RobHarrisReports Vapormax Flyknit 3 Ale . -- Ken Appleby made 32 saves for his first shutout of the season to lead the Oshawa Generals to a 2-0 win over the Belleville Bulls on Wednesday in Ontario Hockey League action. Nike Vapormax Halvalla . LOUIS -- Mike Smith is used to facing plenty of shots, so this was nothing new. http://www.vapormaxsuomi.com/ . 8 Iowa State on Saturday, sending the Cyclones to their third consecutive loss. The Longhorns (14-4, 3-2) got their biggest win of the season with their third in the row in the Big 12. Vapormax Flyknit 2 Ale .C. -- Glenn Howard needed an extra end to move into the Masters Grand Slam of Curling final. Nike Vapormax Suomi . Deulofeu injured a muscle in his right leg in Evertons 4-1 win over Fulham in the English Premier League on Saturday. Barcelona says that its team doctors will "co-ordinate" with Evertons medical staff as Deulofeu recovers.INDIANAPOLIS -- Sam Schmidt, owner of Sam Schmidt Motorsports, said he respects Buddy Rices decision not to drive his teams third car to try and qualify for the Indianapolis 500. Time is running out to find a replacement. Rice, the 2004 Indy 500 winner, was set to join Simon Pagenaud and Tristan Vautier as Schmidts drivers in qualifying on Saturday, but he chose not to compete. "It was a joint decision," Schmidt said Wednesday in his garage. "I was looking for funding, he was looking for money. If we couldnt give him a proper two or three days of testing, he just didnt want to be involved, which is fine." Schmidt said he would have liked to have Rices experience as part of the team. "The bottom line is, we were doing our best effort to ffind the funding to get Buddy in a car today to get him an adequate amount of time to practice so he could qualify on Saturday, and at the end of the day, we couldnt find the funding in time.dddddddddddd" Bryan Clauson, Jay Howard and Katherine Legge are also hoping to land in Schmidts open car. "Theyre usually in here on a revolving door all day long, looking for an update, so weve talked to all of them," Schmidt said. "Were slowly running out of time here, but its not out of the question." An already short amount of prep time is likely to be shorter because of Mother Nature. "With rain looking ominous for the next couple days, best-case scenario is a Saturday-Sunday qualifying thing and go race," Schmidt said. ' ' '