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Soccer-Argentine FA bans trio for eight games after brawl

(Refiles to correct headline) BUENOS AIRES, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Uruguay defender Alvaro Pereira's hopes of making his Getafe debut at Malaga in La Liga on Friday have been dashed by an eight-match ban imposed by the Argentine FA (AFA). Pereira is one of 15 players the AFA has sanctioned for their part in a brawl at the end of a friendly between Gimnasia and Estudiantes, the club he has left to join Getafe on loan until the end of the Spanish season. Also banned for eight matches were Estudiantes' former Catania and Argentina goalkeeper Mariano Andujar and striker Nicolas Mazzola of Gimnasia. Three Gimnasia footballers were banned for five games and another nine players from both sides were suspended for between one and four matches in disciplinary sanctions posted on the AFA website (www.afa.org.ar). World Cup full back Pereira will not be able to make his Getafe debut until they meet Rayo Vallecano in April. The Argentine government had already punished 12 players for their involvement in the brawl that occurred at the end of the pre-season friendly between the rival teams from the city of La Plata. The government banned them from entering stadiums for two league matches in the championship that kicks off this weekend and ordered Gimnasia to play their next two home games behind closed doors. Rival players punched and kicked each other during the brawl in Sunday's abandoned match. (Reporting by Rex Gowar; Editing by Tony Jimenez)