Question:
A forward with the BLUE team gets a run and loses the ball to the last defender for RED team. The BLUE forward is now in offisde position as the last RED defender attempts to clear the ball forward. When the ball is cleared by the last RED defender, it deflects on another RED player’s face and sends the ball directly to the BLUE forward, still in an offside position behind the last RED defender. Is this offside penalty enforced?
USSF answer (September 28, 2011):
No, the offside should not be called, as the requirements of Law 11 have not been met: the Blue player was the last member of his team to touch, play, or make contact with the ball. The Law requires that the player be in an offside position when his teammate plays the ball; that was not the case here.
