Four French football stadiums will trial standing areas next season, the sports ministry announced Wednesday in response to requests by certain supporters' groups.

The clubs concerned are FC Sochaux, already trialling the standing areas, fellow Ligue 2 club RC Lens, and Amiens and Saint-Etienne in Ligue 1, the ministry said.

The trial sees the clubs either remove seats or install retractable seats.

Standing areas for football games in France were outlawed after a stadium collapse in Bastia on the French island of Corsica in 1992, which left 18 people dead.

But many supporters remain standing throughout games despite the presence of seats, and the ministry said the trial was open to other clubs depending on fans' demands.