PETALING JAYA, MALAYSIA: PAS Youth has said it would not hold a protest against two female artistes who are scheduled to sing at the Sultan of Selangor Cup football match on July 6.

PAS youth chief Salahuddin Ayub was quoted by AFP yesterday as saying the leadership had decided it would not hold a protest but would send a letter to the state government.

"We want the organisers to make sure the concert does not promote negative culture. We are concerned since social ills like drug abuse among the young is increasing."

Meanwhile, music producer Roslan Aziz agrees with the Sultan of Selangor that PAS is "hypocritical" and "trivial" to protest against rock queen Ella and dangdut singer Mas Idayu performing at the match.

He said as the head of religious affairs in the state, Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah has the right to express his view and opinion on the current affairs in the state.

"I support the Sultan's statement," he said.

The Star reported that the Sultan threatened to call off the annual match between Selangor and Singapore if the protest went ahead.

He was upset that Selangor PAS Youth had submitted a memorandum to the Selangor Mentri Besar's office to protest against the two artistes performing at the match in Shah Alam Stadium.

Roslan said the protest was due to PAS wanting to manipulate religion for political purposes.

"I think it is wrong. Let people say Umno is evil but it does not manipulate Islam to serve its political purpose," he said in an interview with an on-line news portal.

On Tuesday, Sultan Sharafuddin had also said that the state government and its subsidiary Kumpulan Darul Ehsan Bhd were not the sponsors of the match.

He said no government funds were used in organising the match and so the issue of public funds for the performance and match did not arise as it was done through sponsorship.

He said organising chairman Datuk Karim Munisar, who is Kumpulan Darul Ehsan Bhd president, was appointed by him to run the event annually because of Karim?s love for football and volunteerism.

Meanwhile, Karim has clarified that the Sultan of Selangor's Cup (2008) is organised and managed by the organising committee personally appointed by Sultan Sharafuddin.