FC Barcelona Announce Support for North Carolina's Anti-LGBT Law

mes que un club!

Later today it's the start of the Champions League group stage and one mouth-watering tie features the champions of Spain, Barcelona, facing the champions of Scotland, Celtic.  It's a matchup of former European champions that has been hotly contested in the past.  It has also become more intriguing after the Blaugranas' shock 2-1 loss to Alaves over the weekend.

Manager Luis Enrique rotated the squad for that defeat at the Nou Camp in order to focus on mighty Celtic in a questionable move since that lack of focus could be enough of a slip-up to cause Barca to lose the newly named Liga Santander title. (Meanwhile, did you notice that Valencia and Celta de Vigo each have 0 points through three rounds?)

Speaking of focus, the club had other things on their mind Monday than the visit of Brendan Rodgers' men. Namely, the announcement that Barcelona will open a second academy in the United States - this one in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The news came on the same day that the NCAA removed seven championship events from North Carolina due to its anti-LGBT "Bathroom Bill." This is a serious blow to the state that counts Vince McMahon, evangelical superstar Billy Graham and the dad from hit sitcom 'Family Matters' among its notable natives.

Clearly, North Carolina was in an uproar about this decision and the state's Republican party went nuts over the news. Luckily, Barcelona came to the rescue with the announcement of the youth academy serving as tacit support for the Bathroom Bill. Why else would they pick this day to announce this and why pick North Carolina out of all 50 states for an academy?

We salute Barcelona for their support of North Carolina's anti-LGBT law, once again proving they are "more than a club."