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FRANKFURT, Germany — Referees taking stricter action on tactical fouls is driving a spike in yellow cards shown at the European Championship. UEFA's head of refereeing Roberto Rosetti detailed the trend after the group stage of the tournament in Germany. A crackdown on non-captains talking to the referee also pushed up the number of yellow cards. A total of 166 have been shown during the 36 games compared to 98 at the same stage of the previous edition. Tactical fouls break up a fast counter by committing an offense to force the referee to stop play. Rosetti says "referees are more alert about this."
