ST. ANDREWS, Scotland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mar 16, 2026--
The R&A and Accenture (NYSE:ACN) today announced a new six-year partnership which will see Accenture become the Official Business and Technology Consulting Partner of The R&A as well as an Official Patron of some of golf’s most iconic championships—The Open, AIG Women’s Open, and ISPS HANDA Senior Open until 2031.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260316147526/en/
As the Official Business and Technology Consulting Partner of The R&A, Accenture will provide business transformation and management consulting services to support its strategic priorities across governance, championships and development of the sport by harnessing deep expertise in digital, cloud, data and artificial intelligence. The partnership will accelerate the use of technology in golf - enhancing insights, operations, and fan and player experiences - to help open the game to more people, in more places, around the world.
Mark Darbon, Chief Executive of The R&A, said: “Accenture has a renowned reputation worldwide for its expertise in technology, data and innovation and we see this partnership as a valuable opportunity to support our strategic priorities in golf and help shape the future of the sport.
“As both an Official Patron of our major championships and our Official Business and Technology Consulting Partner, Accenture will work closely with us to help modernize how we govern and deliver the game, while sharing our ambition to inspire people through world-class championships and showcase golf as a sport for everyone to enjoy.”
Through the partnership, Accenture will provide consultancy support to help modernize how the sport is governed, delivered and experienced, building on its track record of working with major global sports organizations to drive innovation at scale.
Mauro Macchi, CEO of Accenture in EMEA, said: “Golf is one of the world’s great global sports, with a rich history and an exciting future. We’re proud to partner with The R&A as its Official Business and Technology Consulting Partner, as well as an Official Patron of its most iconic championships.
“Together, we will apply technology, data, and AI to help open the game to an even wider audience - strengthening the sport’s foundations, enhancing experiences on and off the course, and supporting The R&A’s mission to grow and evolve golf for generations to come.”
Accenture will also collaborate with The R&A to activate its Patron status across The Open, AIG Women’s Open, and ISPS HANDA Senior Open, supporting the storytelling, heritage and global reach of golf’s most prestigious championships.
About Accenture
Accenture is a leading solutions and services company that helps the world’s leading enterprises reinvent by building their digital core and unleashing the power of AI to create value at speed across the enterprise, bringing together the talent of our approximately 784,000 people, our proprietary assets and platforms, and deep ecosystem relationships. Our strategy is to be the reinvention partner of choice for our clients and to be the most client-focused, AI-enabled, great place to work in the world. Through our Reinvention Services we bring together our capabilities across strategy, consulting, technology, operations, Song and Industry X with our deep industry expertise to create and deliver solutions and services for our clients. Our purpose is to deliver on the promise of technology and human ingenuity, and we measure our success by the 360° value we create for all our stakeholders. Visit us at accenture.com.
© Copyright Accenture 2026. All rights reserved.
The R&A and Accenture today announced a new six-year partnership which will see Accenture become the Official Business and Technology Consulting Partner of The R&A as well as an Official Patron of some of golf’s most iconic championships—The Open, AIG Women’s Open, and ISPS HANDA Senior Open until 2031.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — The Iranian women’s soccer team had yet to reveal plans to leave Malaysia after most of the seven squad members who created a diplomatic furor by accepting asylum in Australia a week ago have rejoined their teammates in Kuala Lumpur, a sport official said Monday.
The squad flew from Sydney on March 10 after being knocked out of the Women’s Asian Cup in Australia, leaving behind six players and a support staff member who had accepted protection visas.
Four players and the staffer have since rejoined the team in Kuala Lumpur, the latest flying in on Monday. No reasons have been given for the changes of heart, but the Iranian diaspora in Australia blames pressure from Tehran. Some suspect the team is remaining a 10-hour flight from Sydney until the two outstanding players are persuaded to rejoin them from Australia.
The team is being supported in Kuala Lumpur by the Asian Football Confederation. The confederation’s general secretary, Windsor Paul John, said the team was waiting in Malaysia's largest city to make flight connections to their war-torn homeland.
“It could be today, tomorrow or next week,” Windsor told reporters in Kuala Lumpur. “We are just waiting for them to tell us their plans.”
Windsor said his confederation had not received any direct complaints from players about returning home, despite media reports their families in Iran could face retaliation for the team failing to sing their national anthem before the opening match.
“We couldn’t verify anything. We asked them and they said, ‘No, it’s ok,’” he said. “They are actually in high spirits... they didn’t look afraid.”
Iranian authorities have welcomed the women's decisions to reject asylum as a victory against Australia and U.S. President Donald Trump.
Iran’s squad had arrived in Australia for the tournament shortly before the war in the Middle East began on Feb. 28, complicating travel arrangements.
Assistant Immigration Minister Matt Thistlethwaite described the women's plight in Australia as a “very complex situation.”
“These are deeply personal decisions, and the government respects the decisions of those that have chosen to return. And we continue to offer support to the two that are remaining,” Thistlethwaite said.
Those who stayed in Australia have been moved to an undisclosed safe location and are receiving assistance from the government and the Iranian diaspora community, he said.
Kylie Moore-Gilbert, a political scientist at Sydney's Macquarie University who spent more than two years in Iranian prisons on spying charges from 2018 to 2020, said “winning the propaganda war” had overshadowed the women's welfare.
“The high stakes made the Iranian regime sit up and pay attention and try to force their hand in response, in my view,” Moore-Gilbert said.
"I do think in this case, had these woman quietly sought asylum without that publicity around them, it’s possible that the Islamic Republic officials might have, as they have in the cases of other Iranian sports people in the past who’ve defected ... simply allowed that to happen," she added.
Iran’s Tasnim News Agency said the players who left Australia were “returning to the warm embrace of their family and homeland,” describing their return as a failure of what it called an American-Australian political effort.
Concerns about the team’s safety in Iran heightened when the players didn’t sing the Iranian national anthem.
The Australian government was urged to help the women by Iranian groups in Australia and by Trump.
Some members of the Iranian diaspora in Australia have accused the support staffer who initially accepted aylum then left Australia on Saturday of spreading Iranian government propaganda to her teammates via text messages.
Thistlethwaite said there was no evidence to support the theory that the staffer had persuaded others to leave. All those who had remained in Australia after the team had left were “genuine asylum seekers,” he said.
The embassy in the national capital Canberra remains staffed, despite the Australian government expelling the ambassador last year.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese cut off diplomatic relations with Iran in August after announcing that intelligence officials had concluded that the Revolutionary Guard had directed arson attacks on a Sydney kosher food company and Melbourne’s Adass Israel Synagogue in 2024.
Australian-Iranian Society of Victoria vice president Kambiz Razmara said the women who accepted asylum had been under pressure from the Tehran regime.
“They’ve had to make decisions at the spur of the moment with very little information and they’ve had to react to the circumstance,” Razmara said. “I’m surprised that they’ve decided to go, but I’m actually not surprised because I appreciate the pressures that they’re experiencing."
McGuirk reported from Melbourne, Australia.
This story has been edited to correct that Macquarie University is in Sydney, not Melbourne.
AFC General Secretary Windsor John, left, with his deputy Vahid Kardany, speaks at a news conference near Kuala Lumpur, Monday, March 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Eileen Ng)
FILE - Iran players pose for a team photo ahead of the Women's Asian Cup soccer match between Iran and the Philippines in Robina, Australia, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (Dave Hunt/AAPImage via AP,File)
