Perurena made a call for the ICF to modernise during the first day of the organisation’s hybrid Congress taking place in Rome.

Speaking in Spanish as part of his outgoing speech as President, Perurena claimed he believed new momentum was needed to lead changes, which led to his decision not to seek another term in office having first been elected in 2008.

"I believe our sport is going through an extraordinary moment and challenges have always motivated me," the 76-year-old Perurena said through a translator.

"It is fundamental that starting from today there is a team that is working for the next 10 to 12 years.

"There is nothing in the statutes there is nothing about limitation of mandates, but I have always said a manager must be present for three mandates.

"So I believe we need new ideas, we need new generations to give a new momentum to our sport."

Perurena’s successor is due to be elected on Saturday (November 6), with Germany's Thomas Konietzko and Evgenii Arkhipov of Russia the two contenders for the position.

The Spanish official expressed his confidence in candidates standing in the elections, with a new ICF Board of Directors and Executive Committee also set to be determined.

Perurena called for the organisation to face the future together to meet upcoming challenges.

He highlighted the addition by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) of new disciplines such as BMX freestyle and 3x3 basketball at Tokyo 2020 as evidence of modernisation of the Games programme.

The ICF President also highlighted the uncertain futures of boxing and weightlifting on the programme, warning that sports which fail to evolve may see their future threatened with additional competition for places and Olympic quotas.

The modernisation of the Olympic programme was cited as part of the decision making process for the ICF having extreme canoe slalom included at Paris 2024, with the men's and women's K1 200 metres sprint events cut to make way.

"We have to evolve," Perurena, who represented Spain in the K-4 1000m event at Mexico City, said.

"If we remain stuck, we could become a sport without any future.

"In Paris organisers wanted to introduce extreme sports, so to do that we had to reduce some disciplines.

"If we talk about baseball/softball with a view to Los Angeles 2028, there would be the need for 100 quotas which would be taken away from other sports that are not appealing.

"For this reason I am telling you that we have to evolve.

"We have to develop our federation and the goal of the new board has to be to keep our quotas.

"We have to be ready to the fact the IOC might ask us to introduce some changes, as has happened in other federations.

"We cannot lose our quotas and we cannot lose our medals, so we have to change."

Perurena’s final speech as President saw the Spaniard pay tribute to staff at the ICF for their support.

He paid particular thanks for their efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"It has been a difficult year due to COVID, but together we succeeded in carrying out most of our competitions," Perurena said.

"The organisation was very complex.

"We succeed in organising World Championships and I would like the thank National Federation Presidents and the ICFs technical staff, you have saved the season.

"Tokyo 2020 was the main challenge the Olympic Movement had to face because the Games were without spectators, guests and athletes’ support personnel.

"Games were possible thanks to the Japanese delegation, perhaps in another country it would not have been possible.

"Our events were carried out in an extraordinary way."