Nigerian FIFA referee John Tope Ojeleye will depart for Morocco later today after earning selection for the Confederation of African Football’s Futsal Pre-Tournament Course, marking another significant step in his rapidly growing international officiating career.

Ojeleye is one of only two Nigerian referees named among 30 officials from across Africa for the programme, with fellow Nigerian Bello Al Hassan Zuru also making the list.

The invitation continues an impressive rise for Ojeleye, who only received his first FIFA badge in 2025 after being elevated to the international list as a futsal referee. He was among three Nigerian match officials awarded FIFA status for the first time that year.

His progress did not stop with the badge.

Ojeleye subsequently received international assignments in the CAF Futsal Africa Cup of Nations qualifying series, including officiating duties during Cape Verde’s encounter with Senegal in Praia, providing valuable experience outside Nigeria.

His performances and development earned him another place on Nigeria’s FIFA international referees list for 2026, keeping him among the country’s recognised futsal officials.

The Morocco invitation now provides another opportunity for Ojeleye to work alongside some of Africa’s leading futsal referees and CAF instructors in an environment designed to prepare officials for the demands of elite continental competition.

Ojeleye has also remained active in conventional football at home. He was recently appointed to officiate the Nigeria Premier Football League fixture between Niger Tornadoes and Kun Khalifat, highlighting his continued involvement in domestic football alongside his growing futsal career.

His contribution to grassroots football was equally recognised recently with a Special Recognition Award at the Holiday Gold Cup.

For Nigerian refereeing, Ojeleye’s latest continental opportunity represents another encouraging development at a time when producing officials capable of earning major CAF assignments remains an important objective.

And for Ojeleye personally, Morocco represents another rung on the ladder.

From earning the FIFA badge to handling continental assignments and now joining Africa’s selected futsal referees in Morocco, Ojeleye’s whistle is travelling farther — and Nigeria’s flag is going with him.

Blaming a “significant rise” in AI submissions, Google has paused its open source bug bounty program until next year.

Last year, TechCrunch reported that cybersecurity experts were warning of that AI slop posed a serious risk to bug bounty programs. Looks like that’s the issue confronting Google’s Open Source Software Vulnerability Rewards Program, where researchers were rewarded for finding vulnerabilities in the company’s open source software.

In posts on X and the program website, Google said the bug bounty program was paused as of October 1, with a promise to provide “an update” in the first quarter of 2027. According to Tom’s Hardware, Google engineers and open source maintainers were overwhelmed by reports that were invalid or contained hallucinations.

“This pause is due to a significant rise in automated submissions, the vast majority of which are not valid,” the company said.

In the meantime, participants are encouraged to consider Google’s other bug bounty programs.