Finance Notes: Leyton Orient Says It Will Settle Debts Next Week

League Two side Leyton Orient assured the English Football League that it will settle its debts with the taxman next week and complete its remaining fixtures. League officials met the "crisis-hit club" -- bottom of League Two and seven points "adrift of safety from relegation to the National League" -- last Thursday to find out how Italian Owner Francesco Becchetti plans to resolve the issue with U.K. tax authority HMRC. An EFL spokesperson said, "We were advised that a funding plan is in place to clear the petition debt" (PA, 3/15).

League Championship side Newcastle United Owner Mike Ashley's retailer Sports Direct criticized a shareholder lobby group, accusing it of "fake news" for claims regarding its exec pay ratios. It said that a Pensions & Investment Research Consultants report "wrongly states the firm has a chief executive-to-average-employee pay ratio of 400:1." The retailer said that the PIRC figures "include a bonus that was never paid," and a "true ratio" would be about 9:1 (BBC, 3/15).