Serbia and Albania are facing heavy sanctions after UEFA charged the football associations of both countries with a number of offences following the abandoned Euro 2016 qualifier in Belgrade.

The match was initially suspended after 41 minutes and then abandoned after a melee erupted involving rival players and supporters when an unmanned drone trailed a pro-Albania flag over the stadium.

UEFA has announced that disciplinary proceedings have been opened against the football associations of both countries. Serbia have been charged with the throwing of missiles and fireworks, crowd disturbance, an invasion of the pitch by supporters, insufficient organisation and use of a laser pointer. Albania have been charged with refusing to play and the display of an illicit banner.

Both associations are expected to be issued with heavy fines and other sanctions - which include possible points deductions - when UEFA's disciplinary body hears the case a week today. Albania face forfeiting the match and Serbia could play future games behind closed doors, but UEFA is not expected to expel the countries from the competition.

Michel Platini, the UEFA president, has described the incidents inside the Partizan Stadium as "inexcusable". The flashpoint for the melee came when Serbia defender Stefan Mitrovic hauled down the flag - that of Greater Albania, which promotes the concept that parts of other countries including Kosovo belong to Albania - and caused a number of supporters to charge on to the field. Objects were also thrown at Albanian players.

Despite both associations having been put in the dock by UEFA, the Serbian FA were quick to blame their Albanian counterparts for the unseemly incidents in Belgrade. "[The flying of the flag] was a well-planned political diversion and, at the end of the day, it was the key factor which led to the match being abandoned," read a statement from the Serbian FA (FSS) yesterday.

"All Mitrovic wanted to do was remove the flag so that the match could continue but the Albanian players attacked him. We also wish to point out that the home Serbia fans displayed no offensive banners at any point in time. However, there is no excuse for the pitch invasion by some individuals and, after reviewing the footage, the FSS will press charges against the offenders.

"The incident itself and the behaviour of the Albanian players, coach and staff leaves no room for doubt that they were part of a synchronised plan to stop the match. Likewise, it is also scandalous that Albanians are gloating on social networks over a 'job well done' by individuals boasting of smuggling the drone into Belgrade. It is insulting, not just to the FSS and the Serbian people but, do we dare say, to UEFA, too."

Members of the Serb media also accused Albania of bringing about the ugly scenes, with claims that the brother of the Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, Olsi Rama, had been arrested in the stadium with the drone's remote control in his hands. It is understood that Rama was seated in the hospitality section.

Rama, a US citizen who arrived in the Albanian capital of Tirana on the team plane, later acknowledged that he had been "taken aside" by Serbian police during the melee but refuted suggestions that he had been placed under arrest. "I've never used a drone in my life, I have only bought my son a toy helicopter," he said.

Despite the accusations that the his side were at fault, Albania winger Armando Vajushi - who was seated on the substitutes bench when the fracas broke out - admitted to being unnerved before the match had even started. He is adamant that a stadium dominated by home supporters made for a volatile atmosphere and also accused local police of attacking the Albanian players.

"It was like a war. You can't play football in a situation like the one in Belgrade. The whole stadium was filled with Serbian fans," said Vajushi yesterday. "We only had a 50-man delegation that was in the VIP [stand]. I can't say if our fan drove the plane that waved the Albanian flag.

"Fans invaded the field and started to hit us. Then we ran to the tunnel but nobody protected us. On the contrary, the policemen beat us. Just before entering the tunnel I was hit by a police baton. He hit me in the knee, but it is nothing serious."

Vajushi is convinced, too, that UEFA are culpable for the match between the two rival nations descending into violence. The 22-year-old - who has called for European football's governing body to award his side all three points - believes that steps should have been taken to prevent Albania and Serbia from being drawn in the same qualifying group given the fractious history between the two countries.

"It's UEFA's fault," he said. "How can they put us with the Serbs in the same group? Now they have to award us three points."