(Reuters) - Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett said he would sue the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in federal court later on Wednesday, challenging the sanctions it levied against Penn State University over the Jerry Sandusky child sex-abuse scandal.

"This was a criminal matter, not a violation of NCAA rules," Corbett said, calling the NCAA sanctions "overreaching and unlawful."

Sandusky, former defensive coordinator for Penn State's football team, was convicted in June of 45 counts of sexually abusing 10 boys over 15 years, some in the team's showers. He was sentenced to 30 to 60 years in prison.

In July, the NCAA fined Penn State $60 million and voided its football victories for the past 14 seasons in an unprecedented rebuke for the school's failure to stop Sandusky's sexual abuse of children.

(Reporting by Daniel Trotta; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick)