After the trial of the video assistant referee, or VAR, at the 2017 Confederations Cup, opinion is split as to whether or not the technology has a place in football.
Over the course of the tournament, we have seen teething problems that have made for farcical situations including play continuing for over a minute before being called back for a previous incident, and the incorrect decision being made regardless of the replay assistance.
In the RTÉ studio, most of the coverage of the competition has been centred around VAR, justifiably so, and once again it was the topic of discussion before the final between Germany and Chile kicked off on RTÉ 2.
After Didi Hamann expressed his concerns that the referee would be undermined by having his decisions reversed, claiming that if he was on the pitch he'd be on the ref's back in such a scenario, Duffer was asked for his view as a player, and whether or not VAR would be an issue for him.
With Thierry Henry fresh in his mind after Hamann had used it as an example earlier, Duff revealed that he expects the right balance to be found after early struggles.
Thierry Henry, say no more, the Irish public, myself, probably the hardest day for our footballing nation, and that would have took, what? I dunno, five seconds?
Listen, I know we've come up with a couple of examples now already, but as you said it's only the 75th time they've tried it, so they'll cut time down I would hope. Listen, when Didi mentions Thierry Henry, I'm all for this.
It got a giggle out of Darragh Maloney anyway.
He's got a point though, if the issues that have been highlighted at the Confederations Cup, which is the perfect place to test VAR out, can be ironed out by Russia next year, it could be a big help for everyone involved.
But they are not there yet. As Richie Sadlier pointed out earlier, some people had feared that VAR would take the 'debate' out of the game, but so far it has actually caused more talking points than provided assistance.
FIFA have their work cut out, and a decision to make, but Duffer's on board at least, something he didn't seem to be earlier in the competition.
