UEFA claimed on Wednesday that it had opened a thorough disciplinary investigation into "serious" crowd trouble which forced the Euro 2012 qualifier between Italy and Serbia to be abandoned.

The European football's governing body stressed in a statement that its disciplinary body will meet on October 28 to consider the incidents, and sanctions up to disqualification from the competition were possible under the rule book.

The match, in the north Italian city of Genoa, was abandoned Tuesday night after just six minutes due to Serbian fans throwing flares onto the pitch and at rival Italy supporters.

Fourteen people were hospitalized on Wednesday after Serbian fans then clashed with Italian police.

"UEFA confirmed today that it has immediately opened a full and thorough disciplinary investigation into the incidents of serious disorder witnessed at the match and the circumstances surrounding it," it said.

Once the evidence has been gathered, including the referee and match delegate's reports, the case would be put to UEFA's control and disciplinary body "for further review and possible sanctions".

"The sanctions that are available to the Control and Disciplinary Body can be found in the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations... and range from a reprimand or fine, up to a stadium closure or 'disqualification from competitions in progress and/or exclusion from future competitions'," UEFA added.