Platini and FIFA President Sepp Blatter were suspended from football for 90 days by FIFA's Ethics Committee pending a full investigation into the 2011 payment he received for work completed nine years earlier.
Platini still hopes to stand in next February's vote to replace Blatter at the helm of FIFA, which has been beset by corruption allegations since 14 soccer officials and sports marketing officials were indicted by U.S prosecutors on May 27.
Former France midfielder Platini says the nine-year gap between the end of his work for FIFA as an advisor to Blatter and the payment was due to FIFA's financial situation.
Johansson, himself a former UEFA president, told reporters it was important that the world's biggest sport was untainted.
"We cannot have people who are corrupted. That is important," he said on arrival at Geneva airport. "But I don't judge him yet.
"I have to have the facts on my table. He is one of my friends and I respect him as the president of UEFA. But if this is true, things will happen," the Swede added.
Platini, who denies any wrongdoing, has appealed against the suspension and hopes to clear his name in time to stand in the Feb. 26 election. The temporary ban from football means he cannot attend Thursday's meeting and his lawyers are expected to present his case.
UEFA executive committee member Allan Hansen, a former detective inspector with the Danish police, told reporters: "I expect to get some further information because I didn't so far."
Romanian Football Federation President Razvan Burleanu said UEFA should choose a new candidate for the FIFA election if Platini failed to offer a satisfactory explanation for the payment and discussions could start as early as Thursday.
"This is what we have to decide today. My point of view is for sure, we need a European candidate. I'm expecting to also have that on our agenda (today)," he said.
With UEFA's reputation now under the microscope, Johansson, its longest-serving president (1984-1991) said he was sad that the body's image had been damaged by the affair.
"I was president for 17 years and we never had anything like is, never. We never experienced something like this. It is something I wouldn't believe until I face it now," he said.
(Reporting By Simon Evans; Writing by Martyn Herman; Editing by Jon Boyle)
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