Former Australian Commonwealth Games Association secretary general and treasurer Arthur Tunstall has died at the age of 93 ©Getty Images

Former Australian Commonwealth Games Association (ACGA) secretary general Arthur Tunstall has died at the age of 93, it has been announced.

His death, late yesterday, was confirmed by his son Robert.

Tunstall was secretary general and treasurer at the ACGA from 1969 until 1998.

He led Australia's team at every Commonwealth Games from Edinburgh in 1970 until Kuala Lumpur in 1998.

He was also a former vice-president of the Commonwealth Games Federation.

Tunstall was also a leading administrator in boxing. 

He was Australia's boxing team manager in the Olympic Games at Rome 1960, Mexico City 1968, Montreal 1976 and Moscow 1980.

Tunstall was also a technical boxing for the International Amateur Boxing Association - as it was then called - at Seoul 1988, Barcelona 1992 and Atlanta 1996. 

He was a member of the jury at Los Angeles 1984 and Sydney 2000. 

Arthur Tunstall courted controversy after he claimed Cathy Freeman should be sent home from the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Victoria after celebrating with both the Australian and Aboriginal flags ©Getty Images
Arthur Tunstall courted controversy after he claimed Cathy Freeman should be sent home from the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Victoria after celebrating with both the Australian and Aboriginal flags ©Getty Images

Tunstall's career was not without controversy, however.

At the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Victoria he threatened to send Cathy Freeman home for carrying both the Australian and Aboriginal flags during her 200 metres victory lap

Several years later, however, Tunstall and Freeman appeared together in a television commercial promoting tea.

Australian Olympic Committee President John Coates led the tribute to Tunstall.

"I have known Arthur for more than 40 years through his many voluntary involvements in Australian sport, but principally in boxing and the Commonwealth Games movement in Australia," he said. 

"He was at the forefront of the old school of voluntary sports administrators, who did so much to create the Australian sports industry as we know it today.

"Arthur was one of the most respected sporting administrators around the world.

"He was a man of the highest integrity and character and I am proud to have called him a personal friend.

"My deepest sympathy is extended to his family."

Arthur Tunstall was described as a
Arthur Tunstall was described as a "giant in sports administration in Australia" ©ACGA

Craig Phillips, chief executive of the ACGA, claimed his organisation owed much to Tunstall. 

"Arthur was a giant in sports administration in Australia," he said. 

"He was a pioneer during the formative years of his sport of boxing and the Commonwealth Games Movement in this country.

"The organisation we are today is greatly indebted to the service Arthur provided and the solid financial foundation he created.

"He will be deeply missed.”