PHILADELPHIA — A judge Wednesday ripped the NCAA for forcing Pennsylvania State University to pay $60 million in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child sex-abuse scandal and said she intended to review whether the penalty was legal.

In an opinion upholding a state law that seeks to ensure the funds go to programs in Pennsylvania, Commonwealth Court Judge Anne E. Covey wrote there were “many discrepancies” between the NCAA’s constitution and its July 2012 agreement with Penn State on the sanctions. She also argued the penalties unfairly affected people who had nothing to do with Sandusky’s crimes.

“Student athletes, trainers, coaches, administrators, and support personnel who had excelled in their jobs through hard work, practice, commitment, teamwork, sportsmanship, excellence, and perseverance were told none of that mattered,” Covey wrote.

The opinion upheld the 2013 Endowment Act, passed by state legislators to keep the NCAA penalty funds in the commonwealth. But it also demonstrated how the fallout from the Sandusky case still ripples nearly two years after the former coach was convicted and sent to prison for at least 30 years.

In an unusual step, the judge ordered Penn State to become a party to a lawsuit filed last year by state Treasurer Rob McCord and GOP state Sen. Jake Corman, seeking to enforce the newly enacted law — possibly opening a window into what had been private negotiations between the NCAA and school leaders.

In a statement late Wednesday, an NCAA attorney called the court’s ruling “entirely without basis” and promised to defend the penalty.

“If this decision stands, it would mean that the Endowment Act does not violate the Pennsylvania Constitution, which it so clearly does,” said NCAA chief legal officer Donald Remy. He did not say whether the organization would appeal to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

The sanctions, which also included a four-year bowl ban and loss of scholarships, stemmed from what the NCAA called an unprecedented “failure of institutional and individual integrity” by Penn State and its leaders to detect or expose Sandusky’s abuse of children.